H 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF 
HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 


BY 


CHAELES  HUBBARD  JUDD 

PROFESSOR  OF  EDUCATION  AND  DIRECTOR  OF  THE 
SCHOOL  OF  EDUCATION  OF  THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 


GINN  AND  COMPANY 

BOSTON     •     NEW    YORK     •     CHICAGO     •     LONDON 
ATLANTA     •     DALLAS     •     COLUMBUS     •     SAN   FRANCISCO 


COPYRIGHT,  1915,  BY  CHARLES  HUBBARD  JUDD 

ALL  RIGHTS   RESERVED 

420.11 


gftt  gtfttmtum 

GINN  AND  COMPANY  •  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


Educatioa 
Library 

JLB 


PREFACE 

It  is  more  difficult  to  prepare  a  book  on  applied  science 
than  to  write  a  book  on  pure  science.  Applied  science 
touches  so  many  fields  of  thought  and  action  that  there 
are  twenty  critics  ready  to  point  out  difficulties  where  only 
one  would  appear  against  a  volume  on  pure  science.  In 
the  following  pages  I  have  been  guilty  of  excursions  into 
the  territory  of  the  teacher  of  English,  into  the  stronghold 
of  Latin,  into  the  newly  established  domains  of  science  and 
manual  arts.  I  have  made  observations  in  these  various 
quarters  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  psychologist.  Many 
of  these  observations  will  be  looked  upon  by  my  colleagues 
in  psychology  as  unpsychological ;  many  will  be  regarded 
by  specialists  in  English,  Latin,  science,  and  the  manual 
arts  as  biased  and  ill-advised.  It  is  the  fate  of  anyone  who 
attempts  to  contribute  to  applied  science  to  draw  upon 
himself  abundant  criticism. 

The  only  opportunity  which  one  has  of  making  a  remark 
of  a  purely  personal  type  being  in  the  preface,  I  am  con- 
strained to  point  out  that  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  many 
of  the  specialists  who  will  say  that  I  ought  to  keep  within 
the  .bounds  of  my  own  field  will  unhesitatingly  talk  in 
psychological  terms  which  they  cannot  justify.  It  would 
be  easy  to  point  to  cases  where  psychology  has  been  used 
but  not  applied,  where  the  name  of  the  science  of  education 
has  been  set  up  as  a  defense  by  those  who  are  altogether 
unscientific. 

Fortunately,  however,  the  time  has  arrived  when  educa- 
tion is  to  be  put  on  a  broad,  objective"  foundation.  The 

iii 

±288828 


iv     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

numerous  books  on  high-school  education  which  have  pre- 
ceded this  show  that  personal  views  are  soon  to  be  set  aside 
in  favor  of  more  general  and  well-established  principles. 
Whoever  is  able  to  state  in  an  objective  way  the  grounds 
of  his  beliefs  about  secondary-school  problems  has  a  right 
to  speak,  and  to  hope  that  the  criticism  which  he  receives 
will  be  directed  toward  his  methods  and  his  formulation 
of  problems  rather  than  toward  his  special  views.  It  is  in 
this  hope  that  the  following  pages  are  offered. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  acknowledge  the  contributions 
which  have  been  made  directly  and  indirectly  to  this  vol- 
ume. Some  years  ago  the  author  acted  as  inspector  of 
high  schools  for  the  state  board  of  education  in  Con- 
necticut and  came  into  close  and  instructive  contact  with 
Secretary  Hine  and  others  who  were  engaged  in  developing 
secondary  education  in  that  state.  For  the  past  six  years 
he  has  profited  greatly  from  intimate  association  with  Prin- 
cipal F.  W.  Johnson  and  the  other  members  of  the  faculty 
of  the  high  school  conducted  as  a  laboratory  school  in  the 
School  of  Education  of  The  University  of  Chicago.  During 
the  last  four  years  he  has  learned  much  from  a  group  of 
principals  of  high  schools  in  and  about  Chicago  who  have 
admitted  him  each  month  to  the  informal  meetings  at  which 
they  canvass  without  restraint  the  problems  of  high-school 
teaching  and  organization.  To  all  these  the  author  is  under 
specia)  obligation.  To  the  students  who  have  been  mem- 
bers of  the  classes  in  which  this  book  has  been  gradually 
put  in  form  the  author's  obligations  are  larger  than  he  is 
able  adequately  to  acknowledge.  The  reports  which  have 
been  handed  in  by  members  of  these  classes  have  been  full 
of  fruitful  suggestions.  Many  other  obligations  of  a  less 
personal  type  are  indicated  by  footnotes  in  the  text. 

C.  H.  J. 
CHICAGO,  ILWNOIS 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  I.   INTRODUCTION 1 

Educational  psychology  as  a  study  of  students.  New  motives  for 
making  such  a  study.  The  problems  of  such  a  study  are  to  be 
found  in  the  special  subjects  of  instruction.  Methods  of  collecting 
material.  "Scientific  treatment  of  this  material  consists  in  analysis, 
comparison,  and  generalization. 

CHAPTER  II.  PSYCHOLOGICAL  PROBLEMS  IN  MATH- 
EMATICS   17 

Evidences  that  the  problems  of  instruction  in  mathematics  are 
not  solved.  Historical  reasons  for  present  course.  Problems  of 
rearrangement  and  application. 

CHAPTER  III.   THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPACE     ...     24 

Space  is  a  sensation-complex.  As  such  its  essential  characteristics 
are  not  to  be  sought  in  content,  but  in  its  relational  aspects.  Genesis 
of  space  ideas.  Space  and  movement.  Mechanical  elements  of  ma- 
ture space  ideas.  Space  is  a  highly  generalized  phase  of  all  expe- 
rience. As  such  it  is  the  basis  of  a  formal  science.  This  science 
goes  beyond  the  direct  recognition  of  space. 

CHAPTER  IV.  THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF 
GEOMETRY 46 

Analysis  of  a  typical  textbook  on  geometry,  showing  the  various 
devices  employed  to  induce  in  students  more  and  more  elaborate 
judgments  about  space.  Percepts  of  figures,  abstraction,  analysis, 
synthesis,  comparison,  logical  treatment,  demonstrations.  Analysis 
of  typical  classroom  activities.  Modes  of  attacking  problems ;  social 
interference  ;  various  mental  processes,  especially  memory  and 
reasoning.  Treatises  on  the  theory  of  the  teaching  of  mathematics. 
Memory,  logical  processes,  imagery,  formal  discipline,  relation  of 
algebra  and  geometry,  applications,  purposes  of  the  study. 


vi       PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  V.    THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  NUMBER  AND 
ABSTRACTION 90 

Number  in  its  origin  and  genesis.  Higher  processes  based  on  num- 
ber. Algebra  as  science  of  mathematical  operations.  Abstractions 
and  their  relation  to  symbols.  Algebra  as  an  abstract  science  — 
more  abstract  than  arithmetic.  Analysis  of  textbooks  in  algebra. 
The  problem  of  applications.  Observations  in  an  algebra  class. 
Absence  of  concrete  checks ;  confusion  in  processes. 

CHAPTER  VI.  THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  MATHE- 
MATICS   123 

Supervised  study.  Combined  algebra  and  geometry.  Applied 
mathematics.  Principles  which  must  underlie  reorganization. 

CHAPTER  VII.    THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE     133 

The  literary  character  of  the  high-school  course.  Language  not  a 
succession  of  images,  but  a  form  of  behavior.  Relation  to  emotions. 
Influence  of  social  behavior  in  modifying  vocal  expression.  Ges- 
ture as  example  of  this  evolution.  Growth  of  conventional  modes 
of  expression.  Written  language.  Complex  processes  of  behavior 
related  to  words.  Miss  Rowland's  analysis.  Words  ultimately 
constitute  a  relatively  independent  sphere  of  behavior. 

CHAPTER  VIII.    THE  ENGLISH  PROBLEM     ....     162 

Reasons  for  late  introduction  of  the  study  of  the  vernacular.  Chief 
defect  of  present  English  courses  lies  in  their  specialized  character. 
Reading  needs  new  emphasis.  Composition  is  formal  and  barren. 

CHAPTER  IX.  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH 
COURSES 174 

Rhetoric  a  study  of  forms  of  expression.  Observations  in  a  rheto- 
ric class.  Literary  form  in  its  elements.  Rhythm  one  of  the  most 
primitive  of  these  elements.  Literary  habits  as  exemplified  by 
grammatical  habits.  Emotional  reactions  involved  in  appreciation. 
Appreciation  and  style  matters  of  reaction.  Appreciation  of  con- 
tent likewise  a  matter  of  reaction.  Instruction  should  not  be 
merely  analytical ;  should  cultivate  appropriate  forms  of  reaction. 
Plans  for  generalizing  English  instruction. 

CHAPTER  X.    FOREIGN  LANGUAGES 211 

Ground  for  teaching  foreign  languages.  Analysis  of  methods  sug- 
gested by  the  Committee  of  Twelve.  Grammatical  method  first 


CONTENTS  vii 

PAGE 

based  on  analytical  comparisons.  Natural  method,  so  called,  as 
opposed  to  analysis.  Problems  of  translation.  Psychological  method 
is  inadequate  in  its  emphasis  of  imagery  over  reaction,  but  accep- 
table in  its  advocacy  of  gradual  progression.  The  direct  method. 
The  inductive  method.  Method  must  vary  according  to  the  aim  of 
instruction.  General  language  courses. 

CHAPTER  XI.  OPPOSITION  BETWEEN  THE  PRAC- 
TICAL ARTS  AND  LANGUAGE 247 

Practical  arts  are  increasingly  important  in  the  school  curriculum. 
Disagreement  between  practical  arts  and  conventional  courses  must 
be  overcome  through  more  careful  psychological  analysis. 

CHAPTER  XII.  MANUAL  SKILL;  PRACTICAL  AND 
THEORETICAL  EXPERIENCE .  .  252 

Psychology  of  skill.  "  Controls  "  of  activity  to  be  sought  in  sensa- 
tions. Absence  of  analysis  characteristic  of  skillful  behavior.  In- 
telligent analysis  should  be  added  to  skill.  Purposes  of  manual 
training  variously  conceived.  Experiment  showing  relation  of 
theory  to  practical  adjustment.  Theory  and  language.  Applica- 
tion as  the  solution  of  the  antithesis  between  theory  and  practice. 
Primitive  and  higher  forms  of  learning.  Higher  uses  of  language 
as  means  of  overcoming  specialization  and  generalizing  experience. 

CHAPTER  XIII.    INDUSTRIAL  COURSES 285 

Beginnings  of  such  courses  in  America  were  commercial  courses. 
Special  methods  employed  in  such  courses.  Emphasis  on  speed, 
business  conditions,  and  individual  skill.  Antithesis  to  academic 
courses  in  methods  and  standards.  Tendencies  toward  specializa- 
tion. Special  courses  for  girls.  Science  and  industry.  Applications 
and  discipline. 

CHAPTER  XIV.   SCIENCE 303 

Problem  of  organizing  science  courses.  Historical  development  of 
sciences.  This  development  not  based  on  practical  motives,  but 
depending  at  first  on  the  demand  for  social  consistency  and  inter- 
nal consistency.  Imagination  seeks  to  fill  out  experience.  Critical 
imagination  a  late  product.  Specialization,  its  nature  and  dangers. 
General  science  courses.  Investigations  of  children's  interests. 
Investigation  of  drawing  as  a  means  of  instruction  in  science. 
Science  apart  from  practical  motives.  Science  grows  out  of 
the  intellectual  discovery  of  problems.  Applications.  Criticisms 
of  textbooks  in  science.  Laboratory  methods.  Scientific  method. 
Science  and  generalization. 


viii    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  XV.    THE  FINE  ARTS 345 

Opposition  between  arts  and  the  conventional  courses.  Historical 
development  of  music,  with  emphasis  on  the  reactions  cultivated  by 
music.  Various  kinds  of  training  :  that  of  the  listener,  that  of  the 
technician,  that  of  the  composer.  Cultivation  of  power  of  pro- 
duction as  a  method  of  training  appreciation.  Graphic  arts  show 
development  and  problems  analogous  to  music.  Nature  and  com- 
parative value  of  different  forms  of  appreciation.  Description  of 
the  place  of  the  arts  in  American  schools. 

CHAPTER  XVI.    HISTORY 370 

Growth  of  history  courses.  The  organization  of  such  courses  in  the 
high  school.  Various  authorities  on  the  purpose  of  history  in  the 
school  and  on  the  complexity  of  its  materials.  Nationalism  and 
the  cultivation  of  moral  judgments  as  ends.  Memory  and  chrono- 
logical and  causal  judgments  as  forms  of  mental  activity  culti- 
vated. Critical  judgments  versus  mere  statements  of  facts.  Historical 
imagination.  Applications  to  present-day  problems.  History  as  a 
center  of  correlation. 

CHAPTER  XVII.    GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE      .     .     392 

Statement  of  the  partisan  views  regarding  formal  discipline,  show- 
ing the  confusion  of  issues  and  the  inconsistency  of  treatments. 
Transfer  is  recognized  by  all.  The  real  question  is  the  amount  and 
method  of  this  transfer.  Thorndike's  evidence  shows  large  degree 
of  correlation.  Transfer  takes  place  wherever  generalization  is 
reached  in  experience.  Nature  and  importance  of  generalization. 
This  view  regarding  generalization  contrasted  with  the  inade- 
quate theory  of  identical  elements.  Further  elaboration  of  the 
doctrine  of  generalization.  Formalism  as  opposed  to  generalization ; 
application  a  form  of  generalization. 

CHAPTER  XVIII.   TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY    436 

Methods  of  study  less  completely  understood  than  subject  matter. 
Various  typical  forms  of  study :  rapid  survey,  asking  questions 
intelligently,  discovering  problems.  Advantages  of  group  study. 
Economy  in  study.  Applications  sought  out  by  the  student.  The 
use  of  standards.  Progression  as  the  surest  test  of  efficient  intel- 
lectual work.  Devices  for  securing  efficiency.  Power  of  selection 
should  be  supplemented  by  power  of  elaboration.  Cultivation  of 
power  of  generalization.  Mental  hygiene  depends  on  due  propor- 
tion of  all  kinds  of  activity. 


CONTENTS  k 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  XIX.  GENERAL  PROBLEMS  OF  SECOND- 
ARY EDUCATION 473 

High  schools  have  become  part  of  the  common-school  system.  Rapid 
growth  of  high  schools  has  led  to  internal  readjustments  of  the 
most  radical  type :  richer  courses,  adaptation  of  courses  to  local 
needs,  and  better  adjustment  to  individual  needs.  Some  of  these 
changes  are  embarrassed  by  efforts  to  standardize.  Elimination  is 
not  the  present  end  in  education,  but  rather  vocational  distribution 
and  guidance.  This  is  shown  by  contrast  with  foreign  school  sys- 
tems. Periodicity  of  development.  Adolescence  can  be  understood 
only  when  we  comprehend  the  periods  which  precede  it.  Reorgan- 
ization of  the  secondary  school  so  as  to  articulate  it  to  insti- 
tutions above  and  below  urgently  needed.  General  principles  of 
secondary  education :  the  principle  of  broad  training  and  the 
principle  of  concentration  on  some  sequential  line  of  study. 

INDEX  509 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF 
HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

THE  STUDY  OF  STUDENTS'  CAPACITIES 

It  would  undoubtedly  be  easy  to  secure  unanimous 
assent  to  the  general  assertion  that  the  teacher  ought  to 
understand  the  mental  processes  of  his  students.  Every 
beginner's  book  in  Latin  or  German,  every  volume  of 
selected' source  material  in  history,  every  carefully  formu- 
lated introductory  textbook  in  science,  is  concrete  evidence 
that  the  student  as  well  as  the  subject  to  be  taught  is  part 
of  the  teacher's  problem.  If  we  attempt  to  push  the  argu- 
ment beyond  this  general  suggestion,  however,  and  insist 
that  every  high-school  teacher  should  take  courses  which 
deal  with  the  mental  processes  of  his  students,  we  en- 
counter a  wall  of  objections.  We  are  told  that  what 
teachers  need  is  a  more  complete  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
jects they  teach,  that  it  is  distracting  and  irrelevant  to 
spend  time  on  the  study  of  mental  processes.  It  is  confi- 
dently affirmed  that  the  teacher  will  in  any  case  get  some 
acquaintance  with  human  nature  through  classroom  expe- 
rience; roundabout,  labored,  theoretical  studies  are  there- 
fore declared  to  be  wasteful  and  unproductive.  Finally, 
one  hears  the  statement  that  students  who  are  of  the  ma- 
turity of  young  people  in  high  school  ought  to  be  able  to 

l 


2      PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

understand  anything  that  is  presented  logically  and  clearly ; 
it  is  therefore  better  that  the  teacher  should  think  of  orderly 
organization  of  subject  matter  rather  than  devote  time  and 
attention,  to  the  study  of  students'  mental  processes. 

These  objections  to  the  study  of  the  mental  processes 
of  students  have  grown  stronger  in  the  minds  of  teachers 
and  laymen  because  psychology  has  been  slow  to  point 
out  the  applications  of  its  principles  to  the  work  of  the 
high  school.  Psychology  has  been  a  general  and  some- 
what abstract  description  of  mental  life.  For  example, 
since  the  time  of  Aristotle  psychologists  have  taught  the 
laws  of  memory,  but  until  recently  no  one  has  thought  it 
important  to  study  in  detail  the  most  economical  methods 
of  memorizing,  and  no  one  has  made  a  careful  analysis  of 
the  ways  in  which  the  general  laws  of  memory  manifest 
themselves  in  the  special  fields  of  historical  and  mathe- 
matical study.  Again,  psychology  has  had  much  to  say 
about  the  perception  of  space,  but  little  has  been  worked 
out  regarding  the  mental  processes  involved  in  the  study 
of  geometry,  which  is  based  on  space  perception,  and  little 
has  been  written  on  the  relation  of  courses  in  drawing 
to  space  perception.  Finally,  psychology  has  taught  that 
mental  development  is  a  gradual  process  exhibiting  stages 
which  differ  in  the  quantity  and  probably  in  the  quality 
of  the  intellectual  processes  exhibited,  but  few  writers 
have  attempted  to  tell  us  how  the  fourteen-year-old  boy 
differs  in  his  train  of  ideas  from  the  boy  just  ready  to 
graduate  from  the  high  school  at  eighteen  years  of  age. 
In  short,  we  have  been  without  a  thoroughgoing  applica- 
tion of  even  the  most  generally  accepted  principles  of 
psychology. 

After  assuming,  in  behalf  of  the  science  of  psychology, 
a  due  share  of  responsibility  for  this  neglect  of  applica- 
tions, it  is  just  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that,  in  a  very 
proper  sense  of  the  word,  psychology  cannot  be  charged 


INTRODUCTION  3 

with  the  task  of  applying  its  principles.  Applications  vary 
with  different  situations  and  must  be  worked  out  by  many 
minds.  The  same  is  true  in  the  domain  of  physical  science. 
Many  and  diverse  are  the  situations  which  arise  in  industry 
and  art.  Just  as  the  science  of  physics  remains  seemingly  ab- 
stract and  general  until  the  manifold  applications  of  mechan- 
ical laws  are  worked  out  by  a  thousand  practical  inventors, 
so  the  science  of  psychology  can  never,  as  a  science,  dem- 
onstrate its  usefulness  until  many  workers  apply  its  general 
laws  to  concrete  cases. 

SOCIAL  NECESSITY  OP  STUDYING  STUDENTS 

Fortunately  for  educational  psychology  there  are  social 
forces  at  work  which  are  making  necessary  a  careful  study 
of  the  mental  processes  of  high-school  students.  However 
reluctant  teachers  and  supervisors  may  be  to  turn  away 
from  subject  matter,  however  large  their  confidence  in 
classroom  experience,  the  urgent  problems  of  secondary 
education  are  calling  for  new  insights  and  new  wisdom ; 
and  psychological  methods  of  studying  these  problems  are 
being  called  into  service  on  every  hand  more  rapidly  than 
these  methods  can  be  refined  by  careful,  technical  study. 
We  find  ourselves,  accordingly,  in  the  curious  situation  of 
listening  to  vehement  objections  to  the  study  of  psychology, . 
while  at  the  same  time  we  observe  social  forces  compelling 
a  movement  in  the  direction  of  the  study  of  educational 
problems  by  psychological  methods. 

Thus  the  sudden  enrichment  of  the  course  of  study  has 
so  disturbed  the  quiet  satisfaction  with  which  the  older 
subjects,  such  as  foreign  languages  and  mathematics,  con- 
sumed the  time  of  students  that  no  department  feels  any 
security  about  its  place  on  the  program.  Latin,  seeing  the 
sudden  end  of  Greek,  its  sometime  companion  in  aristocratic 
supremacy,  has  cultivated  the  fluent  use  of  a  formidable 


4      PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

psychological  vocabulary,  and  one  hears  the  teacher  of  this 
ancient  and  respected  tongue  contending  that  Latin  culti- 
vates the  constructive  imagination,  gives  the  student  train- 
ing in  comparison  and  generalization,  and  develops  the 
power  of  expression.1  In  like  spirit  the  teacher  of  algebra 
confesses  that  his  subject  has  in  the  past  been  somewhat 
abstract,  but  he  promises  to  eliminate  the  most  objection- 
able and  formal  parts  of  the  subject  and  to  amplify  those 
parts  which  will  aid  the  student  in  concise,  accurate,  and 
summary  treatment  of  the  quantitative  aspects  of  nature.2 
The  newer  subjects  are  exultant  in  a  formula  which  they 
believe  that  the  psychologist  has  supplied  them,  and  fall 
upon  the  older  members  of  the  course  of  study  with  the 
statement  that  the  dogma  of  formal  discipline  is  to  be  re- 
placed by  the  doctrine  of  specific  training.3  Since  there  is 
no  more  formal  discipline,  the  argument  runs,  there  ought 
to  be  infinite  variety  in  the  course  of  study. 

The  psychologist,  who  has  traditionally  been  a  person  of 
the  most  abstract  temper,  observes  with  interest  that  he  has 
become  a  party  to  the  struggle  for  place  in  the  high-school 
program.  He  may  be  permitted  to  wonder  why  the  destruc- 
tive psychologists  who  attack  formal  discipline  are  quoted 
so  freely  by  the  newer  subjects,  and  the  constructive  psy- 
chologist who  has  developed  a  positive  doctrine  of  general 
habits 4  has  to  wait  for  the  gradual  spread  of  interest  in 
psychology  before  he  can  be  heard.  It  seems  at  times  that 
education  is  moving  in  the  direction  of  a  study  of  applica- 
tions of  psychology,  but  moving  somewhat  obliquely. 

1  F.  W.  Kelsey  and  others,  Latin  and  Greek  in  American  Education, 
p.  21.   The  Macmillan  Company,  1911. 

2  Arthur  Schultze,    The  Teaching    of    Mathematics   in    Secondary 
Schools,  p.  292.    The  Macmillan  Company,  1912. 

8  C.  R.  Mann,  The  Teaching  of  Physics,  pp.  170  ff.  The  Macmillan 
Company,  1912. 

4  S.  S.  Colvin,  The  Learning  Process,  chaps,  xiv,  xvi.  The  Macmillan 
Company,  1911.  . 


INTRODUCTION  5 

URGENT  DEMANDS  FOR  EFFICIENCY  AND  ECONOMY 

Again,  social  forces  are  pushing  in  the  direction  of  psy- 
chological studies  because  in  these  days  there  is  a  wide- 
spread interest  in  efficiency  and  economy.  One  may  scoff 
at  this  interest  and  dub  it  mercenary  and  groveling  if  he 
likes,  but  the  time  has  passed  when  the  public  will  pay  for 
a  school  which  has  no  justification  for  its  being  other  than 
that  it  fills  up  the  leisure  of  its  students.  Indeed,  systems 
of  training  are  open  to  criticism,  even  though  they  are 
thought  to  be  working  along  right  lines,  if  their  work  is 
done  clumsily  and  to  less  than  the  maximum  effect.  It  is 
no  longer  accepted  as  a  mere  academic  discussion  when  it 
is  reported  that  the  English  instruction  given  in  high  schools 
and  colleges  is  inefficient.1  English  has  been  generously 
dealt  with  in  the  course  of  study  in  recent  years.  When  it 
is  found  that  students  cannot  write  and  do  not  read,  the 
question  arises  very  pointedly,  What  is  the  matter?  One 
finds  the  English  teachers  organizing  and  discussing  the 
natural  tendency  toward  dramatization,2  the  contrast  in 
effectiveness  between  oral  and  written  expression,  and  the 
literary  preferences  of  different  stages  of  adolescent  develop- 
ment. When  the  English  teachers  take  up  such  matters  as 
these,  the  psychologist  rejoices  to  note  that  a  wider  currency 
is  being  given  to  a  type  of  consideration  which  he  developed 
at  a  time  when  teachers  of  English  and  science  and  mathe- 
matics were  absorbed  in  their  subjects  and  regarded  the 
psychological  jargon  as  of  little  value.  Even  the  layman  is 
beginning  to  interest  himself  in  these  detailed  discussions. 
Surveys  are  organized  to  find  out  whether  school  moneys 
are  well  spent  and  whether  the  time  of  boys  and  girls  is 

1  The  English  Journal,  1913,  Vol.  II,  pp.  58,  416,  575. 

2  Percival  Chubb,  The  Teaching  of  English,  pp.  53,  187,  235  ff.,  275, 
The  Macmillan  Company,  1909.   G.  R.  Carpenter,  F.  T.  Baker,  and  F.  N. 
Scott,  The  Teaching  of  English  in  the  Elementary  and  the  Secondary 
School,  pp.  99,  255,  276,  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1913. 


6      PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

properly  conserved.  The  methods  of  these  surveys  turn 
out  to  be,  in  many  cases,  psychological.  The  psychologist 
is  finding  in  the  school  surveys  an  opportunity  to  carry  out 
on  a  large  scale  tests  which  a  few  years  ago  he  proposed  in 
vain  as  purely  psychological  studies. 

RECOGNITION  OF  INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES 

Another  problem  which  has  come  to  be  an  urgent  social 
problem  is  that  of  individual  differences.  The  time  was 
when  a  boy  or  girl  was  assigned  a  station  in  life  in  terms 
of  the  father's  achievements  in  the  world.  To-day  a  new 
order  is  being  evolved.  Society  is  finding  that  its  tasks  are 
most  efficiently  performed  by  those  who  are  best  suited 
through  native  and  acquired  interests  to  certain  particular 
kinds  of  work.  The  whole  school  system  beyond  the  first 
six  years  of  the  elementary  school  recognizes  clearly  the 
principle  of  differentiation,  and  is  absorbed  in  studying 
individual  variations  so  as  to  provide  adequately  for  the 
different  natures  and  interests  of  students.  Here  again  the 
psychologist  recognizes  a  familiar  type  of  study.  Centuries 
ago  Descartes  distinguished  between  different  tempera- 
ments. He  used  the  terms  which  the  medieval  physicians 
had  employed,  and  called  attention  to  the  differences  be- 
tween the  phlegmatic,  or  slow,  individual  and  the  quick, 
sanguine  type  of  mind.  He  pointed  out  that  some  are  hot- 
tempered  or  choleric  and  others  sad  or  melancholic.  The 
present-day  psychologist  is  not  satisfied  with  this  general 
classification,  but  the  reference  to  Descartes  shows  that  he 
follows  the  lead  of  the  founders  of  his  science  in  calling 
attention  to  the  fundamental  differences  in  personality 
exhibited  by  high-school  students. 

In  1883  Sir  Francis  Galton1  made  a  notable  modern 
contribution  to  the  study  of  individual  differences.  He 

1  Inquiries  into  Human  Faculty. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

found  that  certain  persons  recall  in  vivid  detail  anything 
they  have  seen.  Such  persons  he  called  visualizers.  They 
remember  the  colors  of  objects  and  recall  fully  and  accu- 
rately the  positions  of  things.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are 
many  who  have  only  faint,  blurred  visual  images.  The 
work  of  Galton  has  been  quoted  again  and  again  by  those 
who  would  justify  this  or  that  educational  practice.  More 
recently  several  students  of  psychology,  notably  Thorndike l 
and  Hall,2  have  developed  the  doctrine  of  individual  differ- 
ences in  an  extreme  form.  The  advocates  of  various  inno- 
vations, such  as  vocational  education  and  special  courses  for 
girls,  have  seized  on  these  studies  with  the  greatest  avidity. 

GENERAL  AND  SPECIAL  STUDIES  OF  PSYCHOLOGY 

Such  examples  encourage  the  psychologist  to  believe  that 
the  time  is  ripe  to  essay  the  comprehensive  task  of  applying 
his  science  to  all  high-school  problems.  This  general  appli- 
cation has  been  attempted  from  one  point  of  view  by  that 
pioneer  in  educational  psychology,  G.  Stanley  Hall.  Hall 
undertook  to  give  a  description  of  the  mental  characteristics 
of  the  adolescent  period.  So  elaborate  is  his  description 
that  it  frequently  becomes  highly  speculative  and  fantastic, 
but  the  outcome  is  a  keen  awareness  on  the  part  of  high- 
school  -teachers  that  adolescent  mental  processes  are  not 
like  those  of  earlier  childhood  and  not  like  those  of  adult 
life.  This  recognition  of  the  special  characteristics  of  the 
adolescent  mind  turns  out,  however,  to  be  only  of  general 
value  to  the  individual  teacher  in  his  daily  task  of  training 
students.  The  teacher's  special  instrument  of  instruction 
is  the  particular  subject  matter  which  engages  both  his 

1  E.  L.  Thomdike,  Educational  Psychology,  Vol.  III.   Teachers  Col- 
lege, 1913. 

2  G.  S.  Hall,  Adolescence,  Vols.  I  and  II.   D.  Appleton  and  Company, 
1905. 


8      PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

thought  and  that  of  the  student.  The  general  facts  about 
the  period  of  adolescence  do  not  determine  what  should  be 
done  in  these  particular  courses.  Would  it  not  be  more 
productive  to  take  up  one  after  another  the  subjects  of  in- 
struction and  inquire  what  are  the  mental  reactions  typical 
in  each  ?  General  psychology  and  the  special  psychology 
of  adolescence  would  thus  be  focused  on  the  day's  task. 
To  be  sure,  there  will  appear  in  the  successive  chapters  of 
such  a  psychology  of  high-school  subjects  the  clearest  evi- 
dence that  there  are  general  temperamental  traits,  general 
habits  of  visualization,  general  laws  of  memory,  and  all  the 
rest,  but  these  generalizations  will  not  be  the  chief  matters 
of  investigation.  It  is  the  special  mathematical  idea  gener- 
ated in  grasping  an  algebraical  formula  which  the  teacher 
of  mathematics  must  control.  It  is  the  special  recognition 
of  the  Latin  form  which  is  important  to  the  teacher  of 
the  classics.  General  principles  will  not  satisfy  these 
specific  needs. 

The  preceding  paragraph  may  leave  in  the  mind  of  the 
reader  the  impression  that  each  teacher  is  to  be  urged  to 
study  only  the  psychology  of  his  own  specialty.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  even  so  much  knowledge"  of  applied  psychol- 
ogy as  would  be  represented  by  a  chapter  on  the  psychology 
of  a  single  subject  would  be  a  real  addition  to  the  equip- 
ment of  most  high-school  teachers.  But  one  should  not  con- 
fuse this  plea  for  a  little  psychology  with  the  final  purpose 
of  the  psychologist.  Applied  psychology  will  advance  most 
rapidly  if  it  is  subdivided  to  conform  to  the  teacher's  special 
needs  and  interests,  but  the  science  will  not  be  complete 
until  a  synthetic  comparison  is  made  of  the  results  of  these 
special  chapters.  Such  a  comparison  is  necessary  in  order 
to  show  clearly  the  meaning  of  statements  like  the  follow- 
ing :  Algebra  is  abstract  and  theoretical ;  manual  training 
is  concrete  and  practical.  The  algebra  teacher  must  ulti- 
mately know  what  is  meant  by  concrete  and  practical ;  the 


INTRODUCTION  9 

manual-training  teacher  must  know  what  it  means  when 
we  assert  that  some  subjects  in  the  curriculum  are  abstract. 
To  a  plea  for  the  cultivation  of  special  psychological  studies 
in  each  field  may  therefore  be  added  an  equally  urgent  plea 
for  a  comprehensive  study  of  the  psychology  of  all  fields. 
One  of  the  gravest  menaces  to  the  unity  of  educational  in- 
stitutions to-day  is  the  lack  of  common  interests  on  the  part 
of  special  teachers.  Their  natural,  common  interest  is,  of 
course,  the  student.  If  the  effect  upon  the  student  of  a 
course  in  English  is  to  make  him  more  appreciative  of  emo- 
tional experiences,  what  effect  will  this  have  upon  his  in- 
terest in  geometry  ?  The  psychology  of  the  special  subjects 
will  thus  merge  into  the  psychology  of  the  student ;  but 
the  investigation  is  introduced  by  a  treatment  of  specific, 
practical  problems  and  is  brought  gradually  up  to  the  more 
general  considerations. 

TYPICAL  PROBLEMS  FOR  SPECIAL  STUDY 

In  order  to  show  that  specific  problems  are  the  natural 
starting  points  of  the  study,  let  us  anticipate  later  discus- 
sions by  referring  to  one  or  two  urgent  special  questions. 
One  hears  the  teacher  of  science,  for  example,  advocating 
the  use  of  drawings  in  the  notebooks  of  students.  If  the 
question  is  raised  whether  all  kinds  of  drawing  contribute 
to  clearness  of  scientific  thought,  one  is  likely  to  get  an 
answer  from  the  uncritical  teacher  which  is  too  inclusive. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  only  analytical  drawing  is  of  value  in 
science  work;  general  sketches  are  often  worse  than  useless 
in  cultivating  scientific  observation.  This  example  gives  us 
the  opportunity  to  dwell  on  the  moral  that  teachers  of 
science  should  clear  up  their  psychology  of  drawing.  They 
have  a  vague  idea  about  drawing  and  about  the  way  in 
which  it  affects  mental  life,  but  they  seldom  subject  this 
vague  notion  to  adequate,  scientific  criticism. 


10    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

The  teacher  of  languages  writes  in  a  large,  loose  way 
that  pronunciation  of  a  foreign  language  is  important  be- 
cause it  contributes  to  the  student's  sensory  and  motor 
experience.1  The  more  sensory  material  the  student  gets, 
the  more  vivid  and  lasting  his  experiences ;  the  more  the 
motor  organs  are  exercised,  the  more  permanent  the  effect 
of  impression.  If  these  statements  are  true,  they  are  im- 
portant for  the  teacher.  If  they  are  not  true,  or  if  they  need 
to  be  qualified  in  any  degree,  the  teacher  of  language  will 
be  helped  by  a  substitution  of  exact,  scientific  statements 
for  the  indefinite  beliefs  with  which  he  started. 

How  shall  definite,  exact  statements  be  substituted  for 
present  vague  ideas  on  the  psychology  of  high-school  sub- 
jects ?  It  would,  needless  to  say,  be  a  source  of  large  satis- 
faction to  the  writer  if  he  could  answer  this  question  by 
saying :  Read  the  following  chapters  and  you  will  be  in  the 
presence  of  an  exact  science.  In  the  interests  of  candor,  it 
must  be  said  that  the  goal  is  not  reached.  This  volume  is 
an  effort  to  open  up  as  many  questions  as  possible,  to  sum- 
marize definite  knowledge  where  such  exists,  and  to  suggest 
to  high-school  teachers  the  methods  which  they  may  adopt 
in  carrying  on  this  type  of  study. 

METHODS  OF  COLLECTING  PSYCHOLOGICAL  MATERIAL 

The  writer  has  found  it  very  productive  for  himself  and 
for  his  students  to  take  in  hand  some  one  of  the  books  on 
the  teaching  of  a  specific  high-school  subject  or  some  text- 
book designed  for  classroom  use,  and  to  read  its  pages  with 
the  idea  of  discovering  the  psychological  principles  which 
the  author  had  in  mind,  often  very  vaguely.  Conversely, 
it  is  interesting  and  profitable  to  assume  the  attitude  of  a 
teacher  of  mathematics  or  history  and  to  read  some  general 

1  C.  H.  Handschin,  "On  Methods  of  Teaching  Modern  Languages," 
Science,  April  18,  1913,  N.S.,  Vol.  XXXVII,  p.  600. 


INTRODUCTION  11 

book  on  psychology  for  the  sake  of  extracting  those  psycho- 
logical principles  which  can  be  applied  to  the  special  sub- 
ject. Such  readings,  undertaken  with  a  highly  specialized 
purpose,  raise  many  interesting  and  important  questions 
for  the  student  of  high-school  problems. 

Once  a  question  is  raised,  the  answer  can  be  sought 
through  systematic  observation,  including  experimentation. 
Systematic  observation  has  for  the  most  part  been  lacking 
in  school  work.  For  example,  teachers  visit  other  schools 
than  their  own  for  the  sake  of  observing.  On  arrival  in  the 
strange  school,  the  visitor  finds  himself  absorbed  in  the 
material  equipment,  in  the  textbook,  in  the  appearance  of 
the  students,  in  the  personality  of  the  teacher,  and  in  a  host 
of  other  externals.  The  hour  passes  without  any  definite 
concentration  of  observation  on  any  single  problem.  The 
case  is  often  quite  as  bad  when  one  tries  to  observe  his  own 
students  while  he  tries,  at  the  same  time,  to  do  his  duty  as 
a  teacher.  The  effort  to  keep  the  class  moving  and  the 
urgency  of  the  sheer  social  situation  in  the  classroom  are  so 
engrossing  that  the  teacher  finds  the  hour  past  and  no  psy- 
chological observations  completed.  In  the  midst  of  such 
distractions  the  teacher  must  learn  two  maxims  of  scientific 
method :  first,  select  one  definite  point  on  which  to  make 
observations ;  and  second,  make  these  observations  deliber- 
ately for  a  sufficient  period  of  time  to  reach  some  conclu- 
sions. Accessory  devices  are  valuable,  such  as  keeping 
records  and  setting  up  experimental  conditions.  Thus,  in  the 
matter  of  drawing  in  the  science  class,  keep  the  drawings 
and  compare  them  with  the  rest  of  the  work  of  each  indi- 
vidual. In  the  matter  of  pronunciation  of  a  foreign  language, 
have  one  class  which  emphasizes  pronunciation  and  another 
which  does  not,  keeping  the  other  conditions,  so  far  as  possi- 
ble, alike.  If  teachers  could  be  induced  to  begin  systematic 
observations  in  their  special  lines  and  to  report  their  find- 
ings, the  science  of  educational  psychology  would  flourish. 


12    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

Indeed,  it  is  hopeless  for  the  teacher  of  psychology  to 
undertake  single-handed  to  do  much  toward  developing  a 
science  of  applied  psychology.  He  can  raise  questions  and 
formulate  suggestions,  but  the  applications,  as  indicated 
above,  must  be  worked  out  and  refined  by  many  workers. 
In  the  past,  individual  teachers  have  doubtless  reached 
many  definite  and  well-supported  conclusions,  but  these 
have  been,  for  the  most  part,  lost  because  there  was  no 
effort  to  collect  and  record  them.  To-day  the  teaching  pro- 
fession is  working  more  and  more  as  a  unit,  and  the  time 
is  at  hand  when  agencies  will  be  developed  for  bringing 
together  the  scattered  findings  of  many  observers.  It  is  the 
purpose  of  the  following  studies  to  contribute  to  this  end. 
Even  disagreement  with  the  conclusions  reached  can  be 
accepted  as  promoting  the  purposes  of  the  book,  provided 
these  disagreements  are  supported  by  observations. 

EXACT  MEASUREMENT  AND  SCIENTIFIC  ANALYSIS 

There  is  one  discussion  upon  which  it  is  appropriate  to 
touch  at  this  time,  in  order  to  create  in  the  minds  of  teachers 
a  proper  conception  qf  scientific  method.  An  acrimonious 
dispute  has  been  carried  on  in  some  quarters  between  prac- 
tical school  people  and  the  so-called  scientific  experts  re- 
garding the  possibility  of  measuring  school  activities  and 
evaluating  results  of  teaching  in  a  rigid,  scientific  way.  The 
expert  calls  for  exact  comparisons  with  standards  and  for 
tables  which  show  quantitatively  how  far  these  standards 
are  reached.  The  individual  student  and  the  individual 
teacher  seem  to  many  to  be  left  out  of  consideration  in 
these  strenuous  efforts  to  attain  exactness  and  a  high  degree 
of  generality.  Many  a  teacher  is  alienated,  and  refuses  to 
become  a  party  to  scientific  study  of  education  because  he 
does  not  sympathize  with  the  expert's  demands  for  rigid, 
scientific  exactness. 


INTRODUCTION  13 

The  writer  of  these  pages  is  an  advocate  of  exactness 
and  of  rigid,  scientific  formulation  of  results,  but  he  is  also 
an  advocate  of  direct,  analytical  studies  of  individual  cases. 
He  believes  it  is  possible  to  reconcile  these  two  types  of 
study  so  that  the  strict,  scientific  character  of  each  shall 
be  apparent. 

After  all,  what  is  sought  in  scientific  studies  of  educa- 
tion is  a  thorough  understanding  of  each  situation  which 
arises.  Take  the  case  of  a  boy  who  is  about  to  leave  school. 
The  teacher  may  let  the  boy  go  without  making  any  effort 
to  study  his  case,  or  may  try  to  find  out  about  the  boy's 
home  conditions,  about  his  expectations  of  employment,* 
about  the  boy's  success  or  failure  in  his  studies,  and  the 
reason  for  failure  if  this  is  one  of  the  causes  of  withdrawal. 
Such  a  study  of  a  single  boy  may  be  most  productive.  The 
difficulty  with  such  a  study  of  a  single  case  is  that  the 
teacher  is  not  likely,  without  contact  with  other  cases,  to 
know  how  to  attack  the  problem.  For  example,  let  us  sup- 
pose that  the  boy  says  that  his  family  needs  the  money  he 
can  earn.  Perhaps  this  is  merely  an  excuse  that  the  boy 
offers  himself  and  his  friends,  not  the  real  cause  of  with- 
drawal. If  the  teacher  has  at  hand  a  whole  series  of  cases 
which  have  been  analyzed  on  the  side  of  their  economic 
urgency,  he  will  have  standards  of  economic  needs  by 
which  he  can  determine  whether  this  boy  really  is  forced 
to  withdraw  or  is  merely  falling  into  this  device  of  justify- 
ing his  act.  Furthermore,  if  the  teacher  can  show  by  the 
study  of  many  cases  that  there  is  a  constant  tendency  in 
boys  of  a  certain  type  and  age  to  become  interested  in  occu- 
pations, even  when  there  is  no  economic  stress,  he  will  see 
in  this  particular  boy  the  operation  of  a  general  principle. 
The  teacher  will  come  to  realize  that  this  one  boy's  act  is 
an  indication  that  the  whole  school  situation  needs  to  be 
looked  into.  Perhaps  what  is  needed  is  not  a  reform  of  the 
boy,  but  a  reform  of  the  course  of  study.  This  example 


14    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

shows  that  the  individual  teacher  needs  to  have  his  hori- 
zon extended  by  general  studies  in  order  that  his  particular 
observations  may  be  understood  in  their  true  perspective. 

ARBITRARY  STANDARDS  AND  SCIENTIFIC  STANDARDS 

Take  another  type  of  illustration.  The  teacher  of  science 
in  a  high  school  has  in  mind  certain  standards  which  he 
regards  as  representing  the  legitimate  requirements  to  im- 
pose upon  his  students.  The  students  should  be  able,  he 
thinks,  to  reason,  to  apply  their  mathematics,  and  to  look 
up  information  in  the  library.  Several  students  in  the  class 
cannot  do  this,  and  he  warns  them  or  puts  them  out.  The 
rest  of  the  class  struggles  through  the  course  and  never 
elects  any  more  science  work.  The  teacher  takes  great 
pride  in  his  high  standard  and  strong  handling  of  the  class. 
Very  often  he  has  been  wrong  in  his  views  about  students ; 
he  has  been  arbitrary  and  wholly  unscientific  in  his  behavior. 
If  he  is  a  keen  observer  and  of  an  adaptable  temperament, 
he  will  gradually  change  his  methods,  and  will,  with  increas- 
ing experience,  ultimately  reach  a  standard  which  will  be 
a  compromise  between  the  arbitrary  standard  with  which 
he  started  and  the  real  needs  of  his  students.  This  slow  re- 
adjustment could  have  been  greatly  facilitated  if  the  teacher 
had  at  the  outset  investigated  his  students  by  some  of  the 
tests  which  are  being  developed  in  every  subject.  A  test  is  a 
means  of  informing  an  instructor  what  students  of  a  certain 
degree  of  maturity  can  do.  The  kind  of  work  which  in  the 
long  run  is  best  for  the  school  is  not  determined  by  a  consid- 
eration exclusively  of  the  subject  to  be  taught.  The  students 
in  one  class  should  be  compared  with  students  of  other  schools 
and  of  other  degrees  of  maturity.  The  trouble  with  many 
a  teacher,  especially  when  he  first  begins  to  teach,  is  that  he 
does  not  have  a  knowledge  of  students  adequate  to  give  him 
proper  standards  of  judgment.  Standards  of  judgment  are 


INTEODTJCTION  15 

matters  of  comparative  experience,  and  they  must  be  set 
up  through  observation  and  comparison  of  many  cases. 

The  demands  for  general  standards  sometimes  discourage 
teachers,  because  they  realize  that  the  individual  teacher 
often  has  no  opportunity  to  make  comparisons  on  a  large 
scale.  There  are  two  considerations  which  may  help  to 
remove  this  natural  discouragement.  First,  standards  are 
being  developed  through  cooperative  activity  and  are  be- 
coming each  year  more  easily  accessible.  If  teachers  will 
cooperate  in  working  out  these  standards  and  will  examine 
the  work  done  along  these  lines,  there  will  shortly  be  no 
lack  of  comparative  material  usable  by  all.  Second,  and 
more  important,  is  the  fact  that  the  establishment  of 
general  standards  is  only  one  phase  of  scientific  study. 
Standards  are  valuable  only  when  they  aid  in  producing 
discriminating  analyses  of  individual  cases.  Here  is  a  boy 
who  is  failing  in  algebra.  General  standards  help  to  sug- 
gest various  ways  of  determining  the  facts  in  this  case, 
and  the  combined  experience  of  algebra  teachers  would,  if 
known,  undoubtedly  suggest  possible  explanations  of  the 
individual's  difficulties.  But  after  all  is  done  and  said,  this 
individual  case  must  be  analyzed  as  an  individual  case. 
In  its  totality  it  is  not  like  any  other  in  the  world.  That 
teacher  is  truly  scientific  who  sits  down  with  all  the  ex- 
perience and  suggestions  he  can  gather  and  focuses  these 
on  this  individual  case.  What  this  particular  boy  needs 
is  perhaps  guidance  in  how  to  study,  or  he  may  need  to  be 
given  an  outlook  into  his  own  future  possibilities,  or  he 
may  need  to  go  back  and  review  something  essential  which 
he  missed,  or  he  may  need  more  physical  exercise.  What- 
ever he  needs,  he  is  a  case  to  be  diagnosed  by  a  trained 
analyst.  Science  in  its  applications  is  here  seen  to  assume 
the  form  of  analysis. 

Individual  teachers  are  scientific  when  they  acquire  the 
ability  to  analyze  individual  cases.  They  will  usually  be 


16    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

most  successful  in  analyzing  individual  cases  if  they  work 
in  the  light  of  general  experiences.  The  teaching  profes- 
sion becomes  scientific  when  it  creates  a  body  of  general 
standards  and  principles  of  analysis  which  will  help  the 
individual  teacher  in  making  individual  diagnoses.  The 
science  of  education  is  general,  comprehensive,  inclusive ; 
the  scientific  work  of  the  trained  teacher  who  applies  scien- 
tific principles  must  be  both  comprehensive  and  penetrat- 
ing, both  general  and  analytic.  Between  the  two  demands 
there  is  no  opposition.  The  keen  analysis  of  the  individual 
teacher  will  aid  the  comprehensive  science ;  the  compre- 
hensive study  will  give  the  individual  teacher  the  instru- 
ments of  analysis.  There  are  many  cases  in  which  the 
general  science  and  the  experience  of  the  individual  teacher 
will  not  cover  with  equal  completeness  some  urgent,  con- 
crete school  problem.  We  shall  then  have  to  get  on  by  the 
best  guessing  of  which  we  are  capable.  If,  however,  we 
have  the  true  scientific  spirit,  guessing  will  be  followed 
by  a  careful  criticism  of  the  outcome.  Even  here,  where 
we  are  forced  to  act  without  the  guidance  of  science,  we 
can  turn  the  case  to  the  advantage  of  science  by  following 
up  our  results. 

These  comments  will  serve  to  illustrate  what  is  meant  by 
the  statement  made  some  paragraphs  back  that  all  careful, 
systematic  studies  of  school  problems  are  scientific.  There 
need  be  no  lack  of  cooperation  between  the  scientist  and 
the  practical  teacher.  There  need  be  no  aloofness  on  the 
part  of  teachers.  Our  science  of  applied  psychology  is  in 
the  making  —  any  real  experience  will  contribute  to  its 
development.  In  what  degree  this  is  true  in  the  domain 
of  high-school  teaching  the  following  chapters  will  aim  to 
demonstrate. 


CHAPTER  II 
PSYCHOLOGICAL  PROBLEMS  IN  MATHEMATICS 

Mathematics  is  the  best  subject  with  which  to  open  our 
studies.  In  the  first  place,  the  practical  difficulties  which 
arise  in  teaching  mathematics  bring  the  courses  in  this  sub- 
ject constantly  to  the  attention  of  all  who  are  interested  in 
the  development  of  the  high  school.  In  the  second  place, 
psychology  is  better  equipped  to  discuss  mathematics  than 
it  is  to  deal  with  any  other  school  subject,  because  the  psy- 
chology of  space  perception  which  throws  light  on  geom- 
etry, and  the  psychology  of  abstraction  which  throws  light 
on  algebra,  are  among  the  most  complete  and  satisfactory 
chapters  in  psychology. 

In  dealing  with  mathematics  it  will  be  possible  to  illus- 
trate a  number  of  general  methods  and  typical  conclusions. 
The  reader  of  these  early  chapters  should  be  prepared, 
therefore,  to  carry  forward  many  of  the  discussions  to  later 
subjects,  keeping  in  mind  the  comment  made  in  the  intro- 
ductory chapter  that  the  psychology  of  high-school  subjects 
is  a  general  science,  not  merely  a  series  of  isolated  chapters 
on  particular  subjects. 

THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  FAILURES 

* 

Mathematics  must  be  recognized  as  one  of  the  most 
difficult  subjects  in  the  high-school  course.  The  follow- 
ing table  gives,  hi  a  vivid  way,  evidence  in  support  of  this 
statement.  It  shows  the  failures  and  withdrawals  in  eleven 
suburban  high  schools  surrounding  Chicago  and  reveals  a 
condition  which  is  doubtless  typical. 

17 


18    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 


NUMBER 
OK  PUPILS 
ENROLLED 

NUMBER 
OP  PUPILS 

WITH- 
DRAWN 

NUMBER 
OF  PUPILS 

FAILED 

PERCENT- 
AGE WITH- 
DRAWN 

PERCENT- 
AGE FAILED 

TOTAL 
Loss 

English  I     

1075 

98 

109 

9.1 

9.4 

18.5 

English  II    
English  III  

723 

627 

57 
41 

63 

49 

7.9 
6.5 

8.7 
7.8 

16.6 
14.3 

English  IV  .     .     . 

422 

28 

20 

6.6 

4.7 

11.3 

Total    

2,847 

224 

241 

7.9 

8.5 

16.4 

Algebra  I     

914 

118 

157 

12.9 

17.2 

30.1 

Algebra  II   
Plane  geometry    .     .     . 
Solid  geometry     .     .     . 
Trigonometry  .... 
Latin  I    

386 
397 
74 
73 
660 

54 
61 
7 
7 
98 

44 
74 
4 
3 
71 

14.0 
15.4 
9.5 
9.6 
14.9 

11.4 

18.6 
5.4 
4.1 
10.8 

25.4 
34.0 
14.9 
13.7 

25.7 

Latin  II  

470 

34 

51 

7.2 

10.9 

18.1 

Latin  III       

188 

10 

7 

5.3 

3.7 

9.0 

Latin  IV  

82 

1 

1 

1.2 

1.2 

2.4 

German  I     

402 

51 

49 

12.7 

12.2 

24.9 

German  II   

249 

17 

11 

6.8 

4.4 

11.2 

German  III  

119 

11 

1 

9.3 

.8 

10.1 

German  IV  
French  I  
French  II     

10 
238 
102 

0 
20 

8 

0 
18 
2 

0 
9.4 
7.8 

0 
7.6 
2.0 

0 
17.0 
9.8 

French  III   
Spanish  I     
Ancient  history    .     .     . 
Med.  and  mod.  history 
U.  S.  history     .... 
Physics   

25 
12 

836 
385 
279 
278 

0 
4 
109 
45 
23 
24 

0 
0 
97 
31 
11 
15 

0 
33.3 
13.0 
11.7 
8.3 
8.6 

0 
0 
11.6 
8.1 
3.9 
5.4 

0 
33.3 
24.6 
19.8 
12.2 
14.0 

Physical  geography 
Botany    

157 

278 

10 

29 

26 
38 

6.4 

10.5 

16.6 
13.7 

23.0 
24.2 

Zoology  

136 

26 

14 

19.2 

10.3 

29.5 

Chemistry    
Physiology  
Commercial  geography 
Commercial  arithmetic 
Bookkeeping    .... 
Stenography     .... 
Typewriting     .... 
Freehand  drawing    .     . 
Mechanical  drawing 
Science    

198 
360 
143 
293 
208 
215 
128 
154 
218 
127 

31 
60 
18 
31 
26 
25 
7 
13 
19 
12 

12 
59 
18 
45 
14 
5 
13 
0 
19 
8 

15.7 
16.7 
12.6 
10.6 
12.5 
11.7 
5.5 
8.5 
8.7 
9.5 

6.1 

16.4 
12.6 
15.4 
6.8 
2.3 
10.2 
0 
8.7 
6.3 

21.8 
33.1 
25.2 
26.0 
19.3 
14.0 
15.7 
8.5 
17.4 
15.8 

Design     

233 

7 

3 

3.0 

1.3 

4.3 

Hygiene  

20 

4 

1 

20.0 

5.0 

25.0 

Household  art  .... 
Domestic  science  I    .     . 
Domestic  science  II  .     . 
Manual  training  (wood) 
M.  T.  (forge  foundry)   . 
M.  T.  (machine  shop)    . 
Pottery    

150 
139 
116 
208 
75 
26 
45 

22 
9 
6 
43 
6 
1 
6 

4 
4 
1 
10 
3 
1 

o 

14.7 
6.5 
5.2 
20.7 
8.0 
3.9 
11.1 

2.7 
2.9 
.9 
4.8 
4.0 
3.9 
0 

17.4 
9.4 
6.1 
25.5 
12.0 
7.8 
11.1 

Economics  

41 

1 

3 

2  4 

7.2 

9.6 

Civics  .... 

56 

7 

4 

12  5 

7.2 

19.7 

NOTE.    Quoted  from  School  Review,  June,  1913,  Vol.  XXI,  p.  415. 


PEOBLEMS  IN  MATHEMATICS  19 

The  figures  given  for  withdrawals  include  all  who  left  the 
course  before  the  examination.  Some  withdrew  for  the  reason 
that  they  were  failing,  but  these  were  not  separated  from  those 
who  withdrew  for  reasons  unrelated  to  their  scholarship.  The 
significance  of  withdrawals,  as  compared  with  failures,  comes 
out  in  comparison  of  different  classes.  Thus  compare  English  I 
with  Latin  I.  In  many  cases  the  students  in  English  remain  in 
the  course  and  fail  rather  than  withdraw.  This  is  doubtless  due 
in  part  to  the  fact  that  English  is  required  of  all  students.  In 
Latin,  on  the  other  hand,  students  withdraw  after  they  have  tried 
the  course  for  a  short  time.  The  percentage  of  withdrawals  is 
accordingly  greater  than  the  percentage  of  failures.  There  is  a 
very  surprising  percentage  of  withdrawals  in  manual  training. 

The  table  given  above  also  shows  that  the  mental  proc- 
esses which  the  mathematics  teacher  aims  to  call  out  are 
less  likely  to  be  called  out  successfully  in  the  average 
student  than  are  most  of  the  mental  processes  with  which 
the  high  school  deals. 

CHANGES  IN  MATHEMATICAL  TEXTBOOKS  AND  COURSES 

Following  this  clue  of  the  difficulty  of  mathematics,  we 
find  striking  evidences  on  all  sides  that  the  mathematicians 
have  been  trying  to  make  their  subject  easier.  The  algebra 
textbook  of  to-day  is  a  less  difficult  text  than  was  the  book 
of  twenty  years  ago.  In  geometry  the  same  process  of  sim- 
plification has  been  going  on.  Furthermore,  not  only  have 
the  individual  courses  been  reduced  to  a  minimum,  but  the 
requirement  of  mathematics  for  graduation  and  for  admis- 
sion to  college  has  been  steadily  relaxed.  All  these  facts 
bear  eloquent  testimony  to  the  difficulty  of  the  mathemati- 
cal modes  of  thought  for  the  average  student. 

While  mathematics  has  thus  been  gradually  reduced, 
other  questions  have  naturally  arisen.  The  place  of  algebra 
in  the  first  year  has  been  called  in  question.  The  experi- 
ment has  been  tried  of  putting  algebra  into  the  second  year, 


20    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

with  distinctly  better  results.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  this 
experiment  the  students  are  somewhat  more  highly  selected 
because  of  the  withdrawals  of  the  first  year,  and  they  have 
the  advantage  of  other  lines  of  work  which  have  prepared 
them  more  fully ;  but  these  facts  only  make  it  clearer  that 
algebra  in  the  first  year  is  at  least  open  to  question. 

HISTORICAL  GROUNDS  FOK  THE  POSITION  OF  GEOMETEY 

Historical  considerations  strengthen  the  suspicion  that 
our  high-school  mathematics  is  not  well  arranged.  Nothing 
is  more  evident  than  that  algebra  is  less  natural  to  the 
occidental  mind  than  geometry.  The  Greeks  had  a  vast 
knowledge  of  geometry  and  very  little  knowledge  of  alge- 
bra. The  knowledge  which  the  Greeks  had  of  geometry  was 
undoubtedly  related  to  their  interest  in  form  and  figure. 
They  were  a  nation  of  sculptors,  and  their  wise  men  formu- 
lated the  science  of  angles  and  areas  to  the  point  where  it 
could  take  on  that  rigid  logical  formulation  which  Euclid 
gave  to  Greek  geometry.  While  all  this  interest  was  being 
manifested  in  form  and  space,  nothing  of  the  modern  type 
of  algebra  was  known.  Indeed,  that  the  simpler  science  of 
numbers  was  in  a  most  primitive  stage,  is  shown  by  the 
clumsy  number  system  evolved  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 

Before  we  turn  to  the  history  of  the  introduction  of  alge- 
bra into  Europe,  let  us  see  how  it  came  about  that  geom- 
etry gained  the  place  which  it  holds  as  a  more  advanced 
^subject  than  algebra.  One  would  expect  geometry  to  come 
early  in  the  school  course,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  it  matured 
much  earlier  than  algebra.  The  fact  is  that  its  very  per- 
fection served  to  take  geometry  into  the  highest  schools. 
In  the  university  of  Alexandria  the  results  of  Greek  studies 
of  space  were  put  into  logical  form  by  Euclid.  This  logi- 
cal form  was  also  borrowed  from  Greece,  where  Aristotle 
had  evolved  that  perfect  system  of  syllogistic  logic  which 


PKOBLEMS  IN  MATHEMATICS  21 

dominated  the  whole  period  of  medieval  thought.  A  com- 
plete geometry  expressed  in  a  perfectly  logical  form  became 
one  of  the  chief  subjects  of  the  highest  courses  of  study. 
Studies  of  space  were  no  longer  of  the  primitive  type  that 
had  grown  up  among  the  early  Greeks.  Teachers  in  the 
lower  schools  have  never  realized  that  the  union  of  logic 
and  space  studies  deprived  them  of  one  of  their  most  natu- 
ral subjects  of  instruction,  namely,  form-study.  The  logical 
statement  of  the  principles  of  geometry  has  blinded  modern 
as  well  as  medieval  teachers  to  the  true  worth  of  this  subject 
for  younger  pupils. 

ALGEBRA  HISTORICALLY  OF  SECONDARY  IMPORTANCE 

Algebra,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  late  comer.  This 
science,  like  modern  arithmetic,  came  into  Europe  with  the 
Moors.  A  little  arithmetic  had  been  taught  in  the  lower 
schools  of  Rome  and  medieval  Europe  to  the  shopkeepers, 
who  needed  it  for  their  accounts,  and  to  the  priests,  who 
needed  it  to  compute  their  calendars.  It  was  not  until 
Europe  learned  the  Arabic  numerals  that  a  real  science  of 
arithmetic  became  possible.  With  the  new  arithmetic  came 
also  a  close  relative,  namely,  algebra.  Algebra,  as  a  late 
comer  and  as  a  relative  of  arithmetic,  took  second  place  in 
the  universities  and  high  schools  as  compared  with  geom- 
etry ;  and  second  place  meant,  curiously  enough,  an  earlier 
place  in  the  course  of  study,  no  one  having  insight  enough 
to  raise  the  psychological  question  of  the  true  intellectual 
sequence  of  the  two  subjects. 

This  historical  sketch  shows  how  utterly  lacking  in 
rational,  psychological  arrangement  has  been  the  school 
course  in  mathematics.  It  is  at  least  thinkable  that  algebra 
ought  to  follow  geometry.  Indeed,  one  reads  in  the  books 
on  the  teaching  of  mathematics  discussions  which  suggest 
that  even  the  mathematicians  have  at  times  had  guilty 


22    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

consciences  about  the  matter.1  To  the  psychologist  who 
has  no  interest  in  following  the  traditional  order  of  the 
course  of  study  it  seems  important  to  raise  a  series  of 
psychological  questions.  Why  did  the  Greeks  develop 
geometry  early  ?  Why  did  the  logical  form  which  geom- 
etry took  on  fail  to  develop  in  later  generations  the  vivid 
interest  in  space  and  the  keen  perception  of  space  exhibited 
by  the  early  Greeks  ?  What  is  there  in  algebra  and  geom- 
etry which  justifies  the  classification  of  the  two  under  the 
single  term  "  mathematics  "  ?  Is  the  relation  between  arith- 
metic and  algebra  recognized  by  the  ordinary  high-school 
student  ?  If  teachers  find  that  arithmetic  does  not  easily 
carry  over  into  algebra,  how  was  it  that  arithmetic  and 
algebra'  were  related  in  their  early  history  when  they  were 
not  associated  with  geometry  ?  Are  algebra  and  geometry 
related  in  the  thought  of  students  ?  The  mere  asking  of 
these  questions  shows  how  rich  is  the  opportunity  for  psy- 
chological analysis  of  high-school  courses  in  mathematics. 

INTERRELATION  OF  ALGEBRA  AND  GEOMETRY 

Perhaps  the  most  significant  psychological  questions  are 
those  which  arise  out  of  the  fact  that  the  mathematicians 
recognize  all  of  the  different  branches  of  these  sciences  as 
interrelated,  while  students  do  not.  Descartes  showed  that 
algebra  and  geometry  are  parts  of  a  single  system  of  thought. 
What  is  it  that  is  common  to  the  two  subjects  ?  The 
schools  and  historical  development  have  kept  them  apart, 
and  now,  in  the  effort  to  follow  the  suggestions  of  the 
mathematicians,  there  is  a  new  and  vigorous  movement  to 
bring  them  together.2  In  Europe,  especially  in  England, 

1  A.  Schultze,  The  Teaching  of  Mathematics  in  Secondary  Schools, 
p.  289.   The  Macmillan  Company,  1912. 

2  E.  H.  Moore,  "On  the  Foundations  of  Mathematics,"  School  Review, 
1903,  Vol.  II,  p.  521.    Numerous  references  are  given  to  the  writings 
of  advocates  of  combination. 


PKOBLEMS  IN  MATHEMATICS  23 

and  at  several  centers  in  America,  combinations  of  one  sort 
or  another  have  been  attempted.  If  these  combinations  are 
to  be  ultimately  successful,  they  must  be  based  on  some 
clear  and  explicit  principle.  This  principle  must  be  a 
psychological  principle,  for  the  combination  of  the  two 
subjects  is  intended  to  produce  some  sort  of  intellectual 
advantage  to  the  student.  What  is  this  advantage  ? 

THE  PROBLEM  OF  APPLICATION 

Another  interesting  psychological  question  arises  when 
we  consider  the  problem  of  applying  mathematics  to  other 
spheres  of  thought  and  action.  Experience  shows  in  the 
most  discouraging  way  that  a  student  may  know  his  algebra 
and  geometry  and  not  know  how  to  apply  mathematics  to 
physics  or  to  certain  practical  shop  problems.  Evidently 
one  is  not  performing  the  same  mental  process  when  he 
masters  a  mathematical  formula  and  when  he  uses  it.  This 
suggests  the  study  of  the  psychology  of  applications. 

In  seeking  answers  to  the  psychological  problems  which 
have  been  stated  in  the  last  few  pages,  we  shall  begin  by 
summarizing  the  conclusions  which  general  psychology 
has  reached  in  its  studies  of  space  perception.  We  shall 
thus  have  the  advantage,  as  pointed  out  above,  of  being 
in  a  field  where  psychology  can  speak  with  a  good  deal 
of  definiteness. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPACE 

SPACE  A  COMPLEX  FORM  OF  EXPERIENCE 

Most  people  who  have  not  studied  the  character  of  their 
space  experiences  assume  that  all  one  needs  to  do  in  order 
to  see  distance  or  form  is  to  open  his  eyes  and  look.  A 
very  little  consideration  will,  however,  convince  even  the 
superficial  observer  that  this  is  not  true:  The  ordinary 
man  sees  maple  trees  and  elm  trees  and  apple  trees,  and 
does  not  notice  that  each  of  these  kinds  of  trees  has  a 
characteristically  different  form.  We  all  of  us  look  at  the 
houses  in  which  we  live,  but  the  chances  are  infinitely 
large  that  we  do  not  notice  many  of  the  facts  of  form 
which  come  out  immediately  if  we  pause  for  a  moment 
and  look  with  careful  discrimination.  As  for  distance, 
we  all  know  that  the  judgment  of  the  ordinary  person 
is  very  crude.  Every  novice  at  baseball  knows  that  he 
has  very  little  power  of  recognizing  distances ;  and  the 
false  estimations  which  result  when  one  goes  from  the  moist 
air  of  the  seashore  to  the  dry,  clear  air  of  the  mountains 
have  been  commented  on  again  and  again.  Furthermore, 
the  sizes  of  things  are  constantly  misjudged.  The  house 
which  seems  so  huge  to  the  little  child  shrinks  into  very 
modest  dimensions  in  the  consciousness  of  the  man.  The 
colossal  statue  disappoints  the  tourist  when  he  first  sees  it 
from  a  distance.  Men  and  horses  seen  from  a  high  build- 
ing fascinate  one  with  their  curious  littleness. 

Perhaps  the  most  striking  way  of  reenforcing  these 
commonplace  examples  of  the  fact  that  space  is  not  seen 

24 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPACE  25 

by  merely  opening  the  eyes  is  to  report  a  laboratory  experi- 
ment, which  shows  how  the  recognition  of  a  simple  form 
develops  through  a  few  repeated  observations. 

EXPERIMENTAL  STUDY  OF  SPACE  PERCEPTION1 

When  a  pattern  is  ten  times  in  succession  laid  before  an 
observer  for  ten-second  intervals  and  his  successive  efforts 
to  reproduce  the  pattern  are  compared,  there  is  often  very 
striking  evidence  of  the  development  which  has  taken  place 
during  the  ten  drawings,  but  it  is  extremely  difficult  to 
prepare  a  table  or  curve  which  will  adequately  demonstrate 
these  facts  of  development.  In  order  to  make  clear  the 
character  of  the  results  and  at  the  same  time  illustrate 
some  of  the  most  significant  characteristics  of  the  drawing, 
two  series  of  drawings  are  reproduced  in  Fig.  1.  These  re- 
productions are  one  sixteenth  the  size  of  the  actual  draw- 
ings. The  figure  shows  two  full  series  from  observers 
F  and  W.  Above  the  two  series  of  drawings  from  these 
observers  is  shown  the  pattern  which  they  were  trying  to 
reproduce. 

Considering  series  A,  which  is  from  subject  F,  certain 
facts  regarding  the  subject's  perceptual  development  are 
very  evident.  The  first  drawing  is  correct  in  general  out- 
line, but  very  vague  in  its  details.  The  subject  has  here  a 
percept  comparable  to  that  which  most  persons  have  of  an 
object  which  has  been  observed  superficially  but  not  exam- 
ined in  detail.  The  face  of  a  comparative  stranger,  for  ex- 
ample, or  the  forms  of  a  plant  or  wall-paper  pattern  are  first 
recognized  in  gross  general  outline.  Drawing  II  shows 
progress,  in  that  the  details  now  begin  to  be  correctly  repro- 
duced. The  first  part  of  the  figure  has  evidently  received 

1  C.  H.  Judd  and  Donald  J.  Cowling,  "  Studies  in  Perceptual  Develop- 
ment," Monograph  Supplement  No.  34,  of  the  Psychological  Review,  June, 
1907,  pp.  352-356.  - 


26    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

not  merely  a  vague  general  inspection,  but  has  been 
examined  in  detail.  The  slow  rate  at  which  the  details  of 
a  percept  are  recognized  is  here  strikingly  illustrated,  in  the 


sir 


•ynr 


OX 


in: 


"VTT 


TTTT 


IE. 


FIG.  1 


fact  that  an  adult  who  is  perfectly  familiar  with  lines  of 
this  character  does  not  succeed  in  ten  seconds  in  clearing 
up  more  than  five  lines.  Furthermore,  the  fourth  and  fifth 
lines  are  sufficiently  different  from  the  pattern  to  be  recog- 
nized as  rough  approximations  rather  than  fully  recognized 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPACE  27 

details.  The  general  form  of  the  figure  is  maintained  while 
the  details  of  the  first  part  are  being  worked  out.  In  draw- 
ing III  is  illustrated  a  fact  which  comes  out  time  and  time 
again  with  almost  every  subject.  There  appears  in  the 
course  of  perceptual  development  a  certain  point  where 
readjustment  of  the  recognition  of  the  parts  is  so  actively 
under  way  that  if  the  subject  is  interrupted  before  the  re- 
adjustment is  complete,  the  reproduction  shows  the  great- 
est confusion.  Thus,  in  drawing  III  what  had  been  gained 
in  drawing  II  seems  to  be  wholly  lost.  Moreover,  the  gen- 
eral form  of  the  figure  which  was  approximated  in  the  first 
drawing  is  here  much  less  correctly  reproduced  than  in 
either  of  the  preceding  figures.  Such  a  poor  reproduction 
as  that  in  drawing  III  must  be  recognized  as  very  striking 
evidence  of  the  complexity  of  the  perceptual  process.  The 
explanation  of  the  period  of  confusion  can  be  made  out 
very  clearly  in  this  case  by  an  examination  of  drawing  IV 
and  reference  to  the  subject's  introspections.  The  intro- 
spective record  is  as  follows :  "  There  is  a  succession  of 
straight  and  curved  lines,  but  their  order  is  very  confused 
in  my  mind.  I  think  there  should  be  more  curves,  especially 
at  the  end."  The  essential  point  is  in  this  reference  to  the 
end.  From  drawing  IV  it  is  evident  that  the  subject  is  try- 
ing to  straighten  out  the  confusion  at  the  right  end.  The 
right  end  of  the  figure  was  vague  in  drawings  I  and  II.  In 
II  the  first  part  of  the  figure  was  mastered.  In  turning  to 
the  right  end  the  confusion  arises,  as^  shown  in  drawing  III. 
The  subject  has  not  had  time  in  drawing  III  to  master  the 
right  end.  This  is  finally  accomplished  in  drawing  IV,  but 
the  attention  is  withdrawn  from  the  general  form  of  the 
figure  and  from  the  first  part  of  the  drawing  in  the  effort 
to  work  out  the  last  part.  Drawing  III  is  a  very  striking  ex- 
ample of  trie  difficulty  of  any  single  test  of  mental  ability. 
Without  drawings  I,  II,  and  IV  a  very  false  notion  would 
be  gained  of  the  subject's  mental  condition  from  III. 


28    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

Drawing  IV  shows,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  the  mastery 
of  the  end  of  the  drawing.  It  also  shows  that  the  subject 
has  mastered  a  general  characteristic  of  the  figure,  which 
consists  in  the  alternation  of  curved  and  straight  lines. 
The  introspective  records  show  that  this  principle  has  been 
explicitly  recognized.  That  the  perceptual  record  of  the 
first  part  of  the  figure  is  wholly  incorrect  shows  what  is 
certainly  a  general  tendency  in  adult  mental  processes, 
namely,  the  tendency  to  generalize  perceptual  experiences 
under  some  abstract  statement  and  to  neglect  the  perceptual 
details  out  of  which  the  abstract  statement  grew.  The  sub- 
ject of  these  tests  must  have  seen  the  succession  of  straight 
lines  and  curves,  but  was  evidently  more  attracted  by  the 
abstract  relational  fact  of  succession  than  by  the  concrete 
forms  of  the  parts  of  the  figure.  The  concrete  relations 
were  recognized  only  at  the  end  of  the  figure  toward  which 
perceptual  attention  had  been  definitely  attracted. 

Drawing  V  shows  the  mastery  of  the  figure.  Its  relation 
to  the  earlier  processes  of  distribution  of  attention,  of  mas- 
tery of  parts,  of  confusion  and  recognition  of  the  general 
principle  of  alternation  is  sufficiently  obvious  from  what 
has  been  said.  This  drawing  could  not  be  understood  at 
all  if  it  had  been  preceded  merely  by  drawing  IV  or  by  III 
and  IV.  The  mastery  of  the  first  part  of  the  drawing,  as 
shown  in  drawing  II,  is  an  essential  part  of  the  preparation 
for  drawing  V.  Though  the  elements  mastered  in  drawing 
II  have  been  for  a  time  neglected  in  drawing  III  and  IV,  they 
can  be  more  easily  recovered  than  at  first.  In  drawing  II 
there  is  evidence  that  if  the  subject  attended  to  the  first 
part  of  the  figure,  he  could  not  at  the  same  time  include 
in  a  single  process  of  recognition  the  last  part  of  the  figure. 
Putting  the  matter  in  quantitative  terms,  we  may  say  that 
the  scope  of  perceptual  consciousness,  as  evidence'd  in  draw- 
ing II,  is  three  clear  lines  and  two  vague  lines.  In  drawing 
V  the  first  five  lines  are  recovered  with  sufficient  ease  so 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPACE  29 

that  the  scope  of  perceptual  consciousness  extends  over  all 
seven  lines.  The  greater  inclusiveness  of  perceptual  con- 
sciousness in  drawing  V  gives  evidence  of  a  facilitation  in 
some  degree  of  the  perception  of  the  first  five  lines;  and 
since  this  facilitation  did  not  occur  during  the  period  occu- 
pied in  drawings  III  and  IV,  it  must  have  been  carried  over 
from  the  period  of  drawing  II. 

The  remaining  drawings  of  this  series  show  certain  de- 
tails which  are  typical.  Thus  the  angle  of  line  three  dete- 
riorates instead  of  improves  through  the  later  drawings  of 
the  series.  This  may  be  connected  with  the  fact  that  the 
greatest  error  in  all  the  later  drawings  is  to  be  found  in 
the  angle  of  line  four.  There  is  very  noticeable  variation 
in  the  position  of  line  four.  In  drawing  VIII  it  is  better  than 
in  drawing  VII,  but  in  IX  it  is  again  worse  than  in 
drawing  VIII.  In  drawing  X  there  is  a  very  decided 
improvement  in  the  position  of  line  four.  There  is,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  drawing  X,  not  merely  the  deterioration 
of  line  three  noted  above,  but  also  a  very  marked  lapse 
in  the  length  of  line  six.  Other  similar  facts  will  be 
obvious  from  the  drawings. 

The  various  lapses  and  slight  improvements  in  the  last 
five  drawings  show  very  clearly  why  there  is  so  little  im- 
provement in  our  ordinary  perception  of  complex  figures. 
Attention  is  from  moment  to  moment  fastened  upon  this 
or  that  detail  of  the  figure  and  there  is  a  corresponding 
withdrawal  of  attention  from  some  other  part.  The  com- 
plete mastery  of  all  the  details  is  therefore  a  long  process. 
In  most  ordinary  experiences  the  interval  between  obser- 
vations is  so  long  that  the  lapses  more  than  make  up  for 
the  periods  of  improvement,  and  so  we  have  merely  crude 
approximations  to  complete  and  correct  percepts. 

Another  general  fact  shown  by  the  series  as  a  whole  is 
that  the  size  of  the  figures  is  throughout  too  large.  Indeed, 
there  was  a  very  general  tendency,  on  the  part  of  all  the 


30    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

subjects  to  make  mistakes  in  the  size  of  the  drawings.  The 
significant  fact  in  this  immediate  connection  is  that  the  sub- 
ject was  in  no  case  conscious  of  the  error  in  size.  That  is 
evidently  a  matter  upon  which  attention  must  be  especially 
directed.  While  attention  is  on  the  various  lines  and  their 
positions,  there  is  little  attention  for  size. 

SPACE  PERCEPTION  A  COMPLEX 

The  foregoing  discussion  makes  it  clear  that  the  recog- 
nition of  form  and  distance  develops  in  the  course  of  expe- 
rience. We  now  turn  to  the  demonstration  of  a  second 
general  fact  with  regard  to  space  perception.  The  recog- 
nition of  distance  and  form  depends  upon  the  bringing 
together  or  fusion  in  consciousness  of  many  sensory  ele- 
ments. Let  the  reader  try  the  simple  experiment  of  cover- 
ing and  uncovering  one  eye  while  observing  carefully  the 
distance  in  depth  between  the  objects  before  him.  He  will 
note  how  his  recognition  of  distance  is  affected  by  the  pres- 
ence of  sensations  from  both  eyes  in  the  one  case,  and  by 
the  withdrawal  of  part  of  his  usual  sensations  hi  the  other 
case.  When  he  sees  with  only  one  eye,  the  world  seems  to 
flatten  out  into  a  single  plane ;  when  both  eyes  are  open,  the 
objects  stand  out  in  clear  relief,  showing  the  importance  of 
the  two  sets  of  sensations  derived  from  the  two  eyes  for 
a  clear  recognition  of  depth. 

FURTHER  EXAMPLES  OF  COMPLEX  PERCEPTIONS 
OF  SPACE 

Other  examples  could  be  cited  without  end  to  prove  the 
statement  regarding  the  complexity  of  the  sensory  processes 
on  which  we  depend  for  our  recognition  of  form.  One  of 
these  examples  which  is  easy  to  present  on  the  printed  page 
may  be  added,  in  order  to  reenforce  the  conclusion  reached 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPACE  31 

by  comparing  one-eyed  vision  with  two-eyed  vision.  First 
look  at  two  equal  horizontal  lines  such  as  the  following, 
and  note  how  easy  it  is  to  recognize  their  equality. 


FIG.  2 

Then  add  oblique  lines  at  the  ends  of  the  horizontals,  and 
note  how  the  added  lines  have  not  merely  contributed  more 
experience  ;  they  have  also  changed  the  apparent  length  of 
the  horizontals,  showing  that  so  simple  a  mental  process  as 
the  recognizing  of  the  length  of  lines  can  be  complicated 
by  added  sensations  which  come  from  contiguous  lines. 


FIG.  3 

In  general,  all  lines  and  forms  are  seen  in  their  settings, 
and  are  influenced  by  these  settings.  Or  putting  the  prin- 
ciple in  the  terms  in  which  it  was  originally  stated,  every 
space  percept  is  a  complex  made  up  of  many  elements. 

RELATION  OF  PERCEPTION  TO  SENSATION 

From  the  foregoing  statement,  that  space  percepts  are 
sensation  complexes,  we  turn  to  a  more  difficult  and  abstract 
matter.  Space  may  be  defined  negatively  by  saying  that  it  is 
not  a  kind  of  sensation.  Thus  space  is  not  color.  One  can 
lay  before  his  eyes  variously  colored  squares  which  are  alike 
in  their  distance  from  the  eye  and  alike  hi  their  contours, 


32    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

but  different  in  their  colors.  The  spatial  characteristics 
of  these  squares  —  that  is,  their  forms  and  distances  —  are 
alike,  but  their  colors  are  different.  In  like  fashion  it  can 
be  shown  that  space  is  not  a  touch  sensation.  I  can  reach 
out  with  my  hand  and  touch  these  squares.  If  -I  keep  my 
eyes  shut  as  I  reach,  the  distances  and  forms  which  a  moment 
ago  were  perceived  through  the  eyes  will  be  perceived 
through  the  sense  of  touch  without  color.  The  distance 
will  be  recognized  as  the  same  as  the  distance  seen,  and  the 
form  as  the  same  as  that  which  was  recognized  with  the 
eyes,  but  the  sensory  elements  will  be  those  of  touch  rather 
than  of  vision.  Furthermore,  distance  and  form  are  not 
only  not  identical  with  color  sensations,  they  are  quite  as 
emphatically  not  identical  with  pressure  impressions,  with 
smoothness  and  hardness,  or  with  coldness  and  muscular 
strain.  We  find  thus  that  space  is  a  type  of  experience  into 
which  vision  or  touch  or  other  sensory  qualities  may  enter, 
but  space  is  not  one  of  these  sensory  qualities. 

At  times  psychology  has  been  disposed  to  find  in  sensa- 
tions of  movement  the  explanation  of  space  perception. 
The  sensations  from  joints  and  muscles  have  been  looked 
upon  as  the  important  factors  in  building  up  notions  of 
space.  This  emphasis  of  sensations  of  movement  does  not 
contradict  the  statement  that  space  is  not  identical  with 
these  sensations.  If  movements  help  to  build  up  space 
ideas,  it  still  remains  true  that  the  space  scheme  is  com- 
prehensive enough  to  include  also  sensations  from  touch, 
vision,  hearing,  and  .other  senses. 

The  foregoing  statement  can  be  reenforced  by  calling 
attention  to  the  fact  that  some  sensory  quality  must  always 
be  present  when  we  perceive  form  or  distance.  These  spatial 
characteristics  of  things  are  no  substitutes  for  sensory  qual- 
ities. Thus,  let  one  try  to  think  of  empty  space :  it  will  be 
noted  that  attention  tends  to  fasten  upon  the  wall  around 
the  empty  space.  Or  if  one  tries  to  think  of  the  middle  of 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPACE  33 

a  vacuum,  there  will  be  a  vague  gray  visual  content  filling 
the  s'pace.  All  these  positive  factors  can  be  changed  in 
quality,  and  yet  the  space  may  remain  the  same.  Again  try 
to  think  of  infinite  space :  one  moves  on  till  he  reaches  in 
imagination  a  distant  cloud,  and  after  pausing  a  moment  he 
moves  on  again  through  the  vaguely  seen  gray  distance. 
The  man  born  blind,  who  has  never  seen  clouds,  represents 
infinite  space  in  his  imagination  as  the  experience  of  swim- 
ming on  and  on  without  stopping.  All  these  examples  show 
that  space  is  not  identical  with  sensation  ;  yet,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  never  experienced  except  when  sensations  are 
present  to  fill  it  or  surround  it. 

SPACE  A  RELATIONAL  FOKM  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS 

The  statement  for  which  we  are  now  prepared  is  that 
space  is  a  species  of  relational  consciousness;  it  is  a  mode 
of  arranging  sensations.  Thus,  when  one  notes  the  distance 
between  two  points  he  has  a  conscious  experience  of  transi- 
tion from  one  point  to  the  other.  During  this  transition  he 
may  see  a  white  or  black  surface,  or  he  may  feel  his  arm 
moving,  or  he  may  recognize  that  his  finger  is  passing  over 
a  rough  or  smooth  surface.  The  sensations  of  color  or  touch 
which  fill  one's  consciousness  are  stepping  stones  for  one's 
spatial  consciousness.  The  space  perception  itself  is  the 
stride  from  one  sensory  element  to  the  next.  Space  is  a 
relational  fact,  not  a  new  sensation.  As  a  relational  form 
of  consciousness  space  has  certain  characteristics  which  are 
like  those  exhibited  in  the  higher  forms  of  experience. 
Consciousness  of  transition  is  a  general  term  which  may 
apply  to  a  great  many  different  kinds  of  experience.  Thus, 
I  think  not  only  of  transition  from  near  to  far ;  I  think  of 
transition  from  a  sad  feeling  to  one  of  rejoicing.  Wherever 
my  experiences  show  gradations  and  I  can  note  the  tran- 
sition from  one  gradation  to  the  other,  I  have  a  form  of 


34    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

consciousness  which  is  similar  to  space  in  the  fact  that 
it  is  relational. 

Space  is  the  most  fundamental,  direct,  and  familiar  form 
of  relational  consciousness.  The  only  other  relational  con- 
sciousness which  is  anything  like  as  familiar  as  space  is 
time.  We  shall  not  complicate  the  present  discussion  by 
attempting  to  describe  the  nature  of  time-consciousness.  It 
is  enough  for  our  present  purpose  to  note  that  space  and 
time  are  the  two  universal  forms  in  which  all  sensory  facts 
appear  in  experience. 

Some  reader  may  be  wondering  why  the  discussion  of 
space  is  carried  on  in  terms  of  consciousness.  Why  not 
talk  about  space  as  the  receptacle  in  which  all  the  things 
in  the  world  are  contained  ?  Why  not  treat  space  as  an 
external  reality  of  a  superior  order  embracing  all  the  objects 
in  the  world  ?  The  answer  to  these  questions  is  that  the 
consideration  of  space  as  an  external  receptacle  leaves  us 
absolutely  in  the  dark  as  to  how  it  is  known  by  human 
beings.  We  have  a  sense  which  explains  our  experiences 
of  light  and  color.  We  have  another  sense  for  sounds,  and 
another  for  touch  qualities,  and  so  on,  through  the  whole 
list  of  qualitative  experiences,  but  we  have  no  sense  through 
which  we  can  get  knowledge  of  a  receptacle  in  which  objects 
are  contained.  Empty  space  has  no  positive  characteristics 
which  it  can  impress  on  the  mind.  One  could  admit  the 
existence  of  an  external  receptacle  in  which  things  are 
contained,  and  he  would  still  have  before  him  the  prob- 
lem. How  is  this  receptacle  known  ?  How  does  it  get 
into  the  mind  ? 

In  attempting  to  answer  the  question  how  space  gets 
into  the  mind,  psychology  has  been  led  to  the  statements 
made  in  earlier  paragraphs.  Space  is  recognized  through 
the  building  up  of  a  series  of  relations  in  consciousness. 
We  pass  from  one  object  to  another,  the  intervening  sen- 
sations get  themselves  organized  into  a  system  or  series  of 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPACE  35 

related  experiences,  and  then  we  speak  of  space  as  the  rela- 
tional aspect  of  the  whole.  We  can  talk  about  space  as 
though  it  were  empty.  As  a  matter  of  real  experience 
space  is  recognized  as  the  transition  from  one  object  to 
another.  It  is  the  form  or  order  in  which  objects  are 
arranged.  Empty  space  is  not  a  really  recognized  fact ;  it 
is  what  remains  if  we  think  of  all  sensations  as  dropped 
out  of  our  real  percepts. 

THE  GENESIS  OF  SPACE  IDEAS 

These  statements  will  become  clearer  if  we  study  briefly 
the  development  of  the  child's  recognition  of  space.  If  one 
touches  an  infant  of  six  months  of  age  on  the  back  of  the 
head,  the  infant  will  get  a  sensation.  He  will  respond  by 
trying  to  put  his  hand  on  the  stimulated  spot,  but  he  does 
not  know  where  the  sensation  is,  and  shows  that  he  does  not 
know  by  his  irregular  and  ill-directed  movements.  The 
infant  has  no  spatial  scheme  in  which  he  relates  this  sensa- 
tion to  other  sensations.  As  his  experience  matures  he 
learns  that  this  particular  sensation  has  a  definite  relation 
to  many  other  sensations  from. other  points  on  his  body. 
He  learns  that  each  sensation  calls  for  a  particular  move- 
ment of  his  hand,  and  he  thus  learns  where  the  back  of  the 
head  is.  He  has  learned  to  recognize  the  relation  of  sensa- 
tions from  the  back  of  his  head  to  the  rest  of  his  world. 

Another  example  of  learning  to  locate  objects  can  be 
drawn  from  the  experience  of  the  tennis  player.  He  gets  a 
series  of  visual  impressions  as  the  ball  comes  toward  him. 
These  he  meets  with  a  complex  reaction  of  his  arm  and 
hand  or  of  his  whole  body.  When  he  strikes  the  ball,  he 
has  successfully  worked  out  a  most  complex  adjustment  of 
all  the  factors  of  vision  and  touch,  using  these  to  guide  his 
motor  organs.  If  he  does  not  meet  the  ball,  he  exhibits  the 
difficulty  of  relating  the  various  factors  of  experience  to 


36    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

each  other,  and  the  difficulty  of  moving  his  hands  properly 
when  experience  is  imperfectly  organized. 

The  foregoing  examples  show  the  importance  of  bodily 
movements  in  the  development  of  space  percepts.  The 
infant  learns  the  parts  of  his  body  by  moving  his  hand  to 
them ;  the  tennis  player  learns  to  locate  ball  and  hand  by 
trying  to  move  properly.  So  significant  is  movement  for 
space  recognition  that  some  psychologists,  as  mentioned 
above,  have  held  the  view  that  space  is  a  series  of  move- 
ment sensations  coming  from  the  joints  and  muscles.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  enter  into  further  critical  discussion  of  this 
doctrine  here ;  enough  to  remark  once  more  that  the  im- 
portance of  movement  sensations  can  be  fully  recognized, 
and  there  yet  remains  the  problem  of  explaining  how  all 
other  sensations  —  colors,  touch  qualities,  sounds,  and  the 
rest  —  come  to  be  included  in  a  single  space  scheme.  Space, 
whatever  the  value  of  muscle  sensations,  is  always  some- 
thing more  than  these  sensations  —  it  is  a  general  form  of 
consciousness  in  which  muscle  sensations,  visual  sensations, 
and  all  other  sensations  are  arranged. 

SPACET  AND  MOVEMENT 

Indeed,  we  may  go  a  step  farther  than  do  the  muscle- 
sensation  psychologists,  in  emphasizing  the  importance  of 
movement  for  the  development  of  space  perception.  Move- 
ment is  more  than  a  mere  source  of  sensations;  it  is  a 
constant  check  on  all  our  efforts  to  arrange  our  sensa- 
tions in  the  space  form.  If  one  sees  a  book  on  the  table 
and,  estimating  its  distance,  reaches  for  it,  he  will,  by  the 
act  of  reaching,  instantly  prove  his  visual  recognition  of 
distance  to  be  right  or  wrong.  We  are  thus  constantly  im- 
proving our  visual  evaluation  of  the  space  relations  within 
which  we  move.  Things  within  our  reach  get  properly 
related  to  each  other  and  to  our  bodies,  because  if  they  did 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPACE  37 

not  we  should  fail  in  our  practical  adjustments.  The  world 
immediately  under  our  hands  gets  organized  in  this  prac- 
tical way  with  a  high  degree  of  completeness.  This  appears 
in  the  fact  that  we  recognize  the  spatial  relations  of  the 
things  near  at  hand  more  fully  than  we  recognize  the  spatial 
relations  of  things  remote. 

Furthermore,  space,  as  we  know  it  through  the  practical 
organization  of  responses  to  sensations,  reflects  all  the 
mechanical  laws  of  weight  and  movement,  because  as  we 
learn  to  relate  our  experiences  in  space  we  are  constantly 


FIG.  4 

under  the  guidance  of  mechanical  laws.  For  example,  let 
the  observer  decide  which  of  the  three  figures  given  above 
(Fig.  4)  he  prefers.  He  will  inevitably  choose  the  third, 
because  the  two  black  spots  do  not  balance  mechanically 
in  the  first  two  figures.  The  recognition  of  the  lack  of 
balance  is  in  one  sense  not  a  matter  of  space  perception ; 
in  another  and  important  sense  it  is  quite  impossible  for 
one  to  see  the  spatial  relation  between  the  two  black  spots 
without  evaluating  this  relation  in  terms  both  of  spatial 
distance  and  mechanical  balance. 

Space  perception  is  thus  seen  to  include  the  results  of 
many  of  our  practical  adjustments  to  objects  about  us. 


38    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

Conversely,  when  we  have  no  practical  motives  for  detailed 
adjustments  to  objects  and  sensations,  we  are  likely  to  be 
deficient  in  space  perception.  Thus,  as  mentioned  above, 
the  ordinary  man  sees  people  when  looked  at  from  a  high 
building  as  small.  Most  of  us  have  never  had  occasion  to 
perfect  our  space  perception  of  objects  far  below  us. 

Another  significant  fact  is  that  certain  of  our  spatial 
percepts  remain  imperfect  because  the  kind  of  practical 
adjustments  into  which  these  percepts  enter  do  not  require 
that  we  pay  close  attention  to  spatial  details.  Thus  I  see 
the  face  of  my  friend  and  recognize  only  so  much  of  the 
spatial  details  of  his  features  as  I  need  to  keep  him  distinct 
from  other  people.  I  do  not  explore  his  features  as  I  should 
have  to  if  I  wanted  to  draw  his  face.  My  experience  has 
developed  only  so  far  as  my  practical  efforts  have  required. 

The  example  becomes  still  more  striking  if  we  consider 
the  lack  of  space  perception  which  one  exhibits  in  the 
presence  of  persons  whom  he  passes  on  the  street  and  neg- 
lects because  their  faces  are  not  familiar.  One  scarcely 
sees  the  details  of  these  faces  at  all. 

From  such  examples  as  these  we  see  that  the  degree  of 
spatial  analysis  depends  directly  upon  the  kind  of  use 
which  one  is  going  to  make  of  his  sensations.  The  artist 
makes  one  kind  of  analysis  of  a  mass  of  sensations,  the 
familiar  friend  makes  another,  the  stranger  a  third. 

UNIVERSAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  SPACE  PERCEPTS 

Whatever  the  individual  differences  in  our  perceptions  of 
space  relations,  there  are  certain  respects  in  which  we  all 
agree.  Thus  all  human  beings  look  at  the  world  from  an 
upright  position.  As  a  result  we  all  recognize  a  vertical 
line  as  having  unique  value  as  a  line  of  reference.  What- 
ever departs  from  the  vertical  is  recognized  with  vividness. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  few  degrees  of  deviation  from  an 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPACE  39 

angle  of  forty-five  degrees  or  from  an  angle  of  sixty  de- 
grees are  recognized  very  imperfectly.  The  vertical  line  is 
a  fact  of  major  importance  in  the  experience  of  all  human 
beings.  In  like  fashion  the  experiences  described  by  the 
words  "  up "  and  "  down "  have  a  distinct  and  common 
value  for  all  human  beings.  The  same  is  true  of  the  words 
"  backward  "  and  "  forward." 

Jennings  has  given  a  striking  illustration  of  the  fact  that 
one  human  being  is  more  like  another  human  being  in  mat- 
ters of  space  experience  than  like  some  of  the  lower  animals. 
Take,  for  example,  the  starfish.  For  this  animal  there  is  no 
forward  and  backward.  His  radial  structure  makes  every 
direction  a  forward  direction.  If  one  wishes  to  put  the  star- 
fish in  a  position  where  its  experiences  and  movements  will  be 
analogous  to  ours,  one  may  turn  it  over ;  then  the  distinction 
between  right  side  up  and  bottom  side  up  appears  as  a  fun- 
damental distinction  in  the  experience  and  behavior  of  the 
starfish,  but  for  the  starfish  there  is  no  forward  and  backward. 

The  universal  characteristics  of  space  perception  arising 
from  our  common  human  structures  give  us  all  a  sufficiently 
definite  basis  for  understanding  the  spatial  experiences  of 
others,  so  that  we  overlook  our  individual  differences  and 
think  of  space  as  alike  for  all  human  beings.  Indeed,  in 
ordinary  intercourse  we  think  of  space  as  quite  as  real  and 
independent  of  individual  perception  as  is  light  or  sound 
vibration.  To  be  sure,  when  a  layman  compares  his  per- 
ception of  space  with  that  of  the  artist,  the  layman  realizes 
that  he  is  deficient  in  a  sphere  where  the  artist  is  expert ; 
but  even  with  this  difference  in  mind  the  layman  knows 
that  in  fundamental  characteristics  his  perception  of  space 
is  like  that  of  the  artist.  In  other  words,  human  nature 
being  what  it  is,  all  men  are  fundamentally  alike  in  the 
essentials  of  space  relations. 

It  is  an  interesting  speculation  to  consider  what  must 
be  the  form  of  experience  of  space  of  a  bird  or  of  a  flying 


40    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

squirrel.  The  ordinary  standards  of  comparison  with  our 
fixed  vertical  must  be  replaced  by  wholly  different  standards. 

Again  we  can  gain  a  more  vivid  conception  of  the  char- 
acter of  our  own  space  world  by  imagining  such  contrasts 
as  are  presented  to  us  by  the  non-Euclidean  geometricians. 
Our  space  is  three-dimensional.  Imagine  a  race  of  intelli- 
gent shadows  confined  in  their  movements  to  a  world 
limited  to  the  surface  of  a  table.  To  such  beings  many 
of  our  movements  through  the  third  dimension  would  be 
absolutely  unintelligible.  If,  for  example,  a  shadow  living 
on  the  surface  of  a  table  could  observe  the  fact  that  I  take 
a  book  from  the  table  and  bring  it  down  on  the  other  side 
of  him,  he  would  be  at  a  loss  to  know  how  the  book  could 
disappear  from  his  world  and  then  reenter  it  at  a  new  point. 

These  contrasts  with  human  space  perception  give  some 
insight  into  the  importance  of  the  statement  that  all  human 
beings  are  fundamentally  alike  in  their  space  perceptions. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL  GROUNDS  OF  THE  FORMAL  CHARACTER 
OF  GEOMETRY 

Another  fact  regarding  space  which  is  of  great  moment 
to  the  student  of  geometry  depends  on  the  general  principle 
that  space  is  not  a  particular  kind  of  sensation,  but  a  gen- 
eral scheme  within  which  all  sensations  can  be  arranged. 
We  can  accordingly  study  space  relations  with  the  aid  of 
any  available  objects.  Thus,  if  one  wishes  to  study  the  effect 
of  rotating  one  object  around  another,  he  does  not  have  to 
secure  any  particular  objects.  He  can  use  outline  figures 
on  the  blackboard,  or  the  books  which  lie  on  his  table,  or 
carefully  constructed  geometrical  models.  Space  is  thus  a 
very  simple  kind  of  experience  to  demonstrate.  The  man 
who  is  blind  can  understand  space  relations  just  as  com- 
pletely as  the  man  who  sees.  Even  the  fact  that  the  blind 
man  is  limited  in  the  range  of  his  space  perceptions  does 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPACE  41 

not  prevent  him  from  deriving  from  his  limited  world  all 
of  the  broader  notions  of  space.  Space  is  a  relational  aspect 
of  experience  and  appears  in  the  same  fundamental  forms, 
whatever  the  sensory  contents  which  are  brought  into  the 
relation. 

In  fact,  space  is  so  easy  to  express  and  demonstrate  that 
it  becomes  in  mental  life  the  standard  experience  in  terms 
of  which  we  describe  many  other  relational  experiences. 
Thus,  when  we  wish  to  make  a  statement  about  our  feelings, 
although  they  are  absolutely  unspatial,  we  speak  of  them 
as  elevating  or  depressing.  When  we  talk  about  values 
we  describe  them  as  high  or  low.  We  speak  of  all  men 
in  a  democracy  as  on  the  same  level.  These  expressions 
show  how  dominant  in  human  life  is  this  vivid,  relational 
experience  of  space. 

Not  merely  in  crude  popular  thought  is  space  the  typical 
and  most  readily  demonstrated  relational  experience  ;  in 
the  most  exact  science,  space  is  used  as  the  convenient 
medium  of  expressing  all  relations.  If  the  physicist  wishes 
to  describe  the  weights  which  can  be  carried  by  steel  or 
concrete  of  different  grades,  he  assembles  all  his  facts  into 
a  graph.  The  graph  shows  the  whole  series  of  varying 
relations.  The  economist  shows  by  using  a  graph  how  stocks 
and  bonds  fluctuate  from  day  to  day  and  from  week  to 
week.  These  uses  of  space  as  a  means  of  expressing  non- 
spatial  facts  show,  first,  that  space  is  a  relational  fact, 
for  otherwise  it  could  not  express  all  the  other  relational 
facts  which  are  put  into  graphs ;  second,  that  space  is  the 
most  directly  perceived  and  familiar  relational  fact  in 
human  experience.  They  explain  also  the  unique  impor- 
tance of  the  science  of  space  as  the  science  dealing  with 
the  most  familiar  and  readily  demonstrated  relational  fact 
in  conscious  experience.  They  also  explain  the  fact  that 
geometry  is  so  often  mistaken  for  logic. 


42    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

HIGHER  FORMS  OF  REASONING  APPLIED  TO  SPACE 

Before  we  turn  to  the  study  of  geometry  we  must  carry 
our  psychological  analysis  one  step  further.  Geometry  em- 
ploys certain  forms  of  comparison  which  are  of  a  higher 
mental  order  than  space  perception  itself.  Thus  I  can  say  of 
two  squares  that  they  are  alike  in  form.  The  recognition 
of  likeness  is  of  a  higher  type  than  the  mere  recognition  of 
the  square  as  a  spatial  form.  I  can  say  of  a  triangle  that  it 
has  three  sides.  Here  I  have  exercised  a  power  of  analysis 
on  my  spatial  experience  and  have  compared  this  three-sided 
figure  with  other  figures  of  more  or  less  numerous  sides. 
Enumeration  of  parts,  with  its  attending  analysis,  is  a  process 
of  comparison  differing  from  mere  recognition  of  form. 


;  v 


> 


FIG.  5 


The  foregoing  remark  can  be  amplified  by  examples  of 
comparison  at  various  levels  of  difficulty.  Thus,  if  I  recog- 
nize that  the  two  figures  A  and  B  (Fig.  5)  are  alike  in  form, 
I  make  a  very  direct  comparison  which  is  hardly  more 
elaborate  than  the  direct  recognition  of  the  figures  com- 
pared. But  if  I  try  to  compare  figures  C  and  D  and  ask 
whether  they  are  alike  in  form,  I  find  that  I  am  in  difficulty, 
because  the  figures  are  complex;  and  exact  comparison  re- 
quires a  minute  discrimination  which  in  turn  requires  a  very 
detailed  recognition  of  the  figure,  possibly  even  a  counting 
of  the  sides.  Comparison  in  the  latter  case  will  require 
methods  which  were  not  necessary  in  dealing  with  A  and  B. 

These  cases  show  us  that  direct  perception  of  form  and 
higher  comparisons  or  scientific  study  of  forms  belong  to 
different  levels  of  mental  life.  To  see  a  triangle  is  one 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPACE  43 

experience;  to  discover  its  properties  by  analysis  and 
comparison  with  other  figures  is  another  level  of  thought, 
involving  forms  of  relational  consciousness  higher  than 
space  perception.  Undoubtedly  one's  perceptions  of  figures 
will  be  influenced  by  his  scientific  study ;  that  is,  one  who 
has  studied  a  pentagon  will  recognize  it  more  readily  and 
more  fully  than  the  observer  who  has  not  studied  it ;  but 
study  and  recognition,  though  mutually  interdependent,  are 
different  in  character. 

That  study  and  direct  recognition  are  not  the  same 
appears  from  the  fact  that  two  persons  may  gain  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  same  form  by  two  wholly  different  routes. 
Thus  the  practical  carpenter  who  repeatedly  cuts  out  a 
certain  form  in  wood  will  come  to  know  this  shape  ulti- 
mately. When  he  sees  the  familiar  form  in  other  settings  he 
may  recognize  it  at  once.  In  like  degree  the  geometrician 
may  cultivate  intimate  knowledge  of  the  same  form  and  may 
recognize  this  form  wherever  it  turns  up.  The  two  men 
may  both  see  the  form  with  something  like  the  same  detail 
and  accuracy.  They  will,  however,  differ  absolutely  in  the 
types  of  experience  which  attach  to  their  percepts.  To  one 
the  recognition  of  the  shape  suggests  the  tool  which  cuts  out 
the  figure  ;  to  the  other  the  shape  suggests  ideas  of  angles 
to  be  measured  and  lines  to  be  projected  into  infinity.  The 
percepts  in  the  two  cases  have  entirely  different  connec- 
tions and  relations,  though  the  accuracy  with  which  they  are 
recognized  is  the  same. 

SPACE  PERCEPTION  AND  SCIENCE  OF  SPACE 

We  may  think  of  one's  space  percepts,  therefore,  as  a 
result  of  those  mental  processes  which  from  earliest  child- 
hood have  contributed  to  one's  recognition  of  form  and 
distance ;  or  we  may  think  of  space  percepts  of  lines  and 
figures  as  the  raw  material  to  be  taken  up  by  higher  forms 


44    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

of  comparison  into  the  sphere  of  a  scientific  study  of  spatial 
characteristics.  Considered  as  a  product  of  contact  with 
things,  space  perception  is  an  organized  arrangement  of 
sensory  qualities  in  a  series;  considered  as  material  for 
scientific  study,  space  is  a  group  of  facts  to  be  analyzed 
and  compared  with  a  view  to  defining  more  fully  the  remote 
and  less  obvious  characteristics  of  particular  figures.  This 
contrast  may  be  made  clear  by  pointing  out  one  of  the  prob- 
lems encountered  by  the  teacher  of  solid  geometry.  Many  a 
student  has  difficulty  with  solid  geometry  because  he  does 
not  know  what  the  flat  figure  on  the  page  means.  His 
teacher  expects  him  to  have  in  mind  a  solid  object  filling 
three-dimensional  space.  He  cannot  supply  the  three- 
dimensional  idea.  It  is  therefore  impossible  for  him  to  go 
on  intelligently  with  the  study  of  the  solid  object.  He  does 
not  have  the  space  idea  needed  to  furnish  the  raw  material 
for  scientific  studies.  Writers  on  the  teaching  of  geometry- 
have  urged  that  it  is  a  mistake  to  give  models  and  photo- 
graphs to  students  when  they  are  studying  solid  geometry. 
The  writer  saw  this  pedagogical  doctrine  carried  one  step 
further  by  a  teacher  who  did  not  draw  even  the  flat  figure's 
of  plane  geometry  on  the  board,  but  required  the  members 
of  the  class  to  keep  the  figure  in  mind  after  it  had  been 
drawn  by  a  movement  of  the  hand  in  the  air  before  them. 
This  teacher's  contention  was  that  reasoning  about  figures 
was  more  exact  if  the  students  had  the  figure  in  their  heads. 

TEACHING  OF  GEOMETRY  INVOLVES  A  VARIETY  OF 
PROCESSES 

Whether  we  accept  the  verdict  of  those  who  object  to 
concrete  forms  as  aids  in  the  study  of  geometry  or  not,  one 
fact  is  certainly  clear :  there  are  two  problems  involved  in  a 
geometrical  demonstration  —  first,  there  is  the  problem  of 
making  sure  that  the  student  has  clearly  in  mind  the  figure 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SPACE  45 

which  is  being  discussed;  second,  there  is  the  problem  of 
studying  the  figure.  If  the  student  does  not  know  the  figure, 
or  if  he  cannot  hold  it  in  mind,  he  cannot  perform  the  later, 
more  complex  mental  operations  of  dealing  with  the  figure. 
If  one  has  the  figure  in  mind,  then  the  real  business  of  the 
science  of  geometry  can  begin.  The  science  of  geometry 
undertakes  an  analysis  and  comparison  of  figures,  and  in- 
volves higher  forms  of  consciousness  than  those  which  are 
cultivated  in  the  perception  of  forms  and  distances;  but 
it  requires  a  high  degree  of  space  perception  before  the 
student  can  take  up  scientific  analysis  and  comparison. 

The  conclusions  reached  in  this  chapter  prepare  the  way 
for  a  psychological  study  of  geometry  and  of  the  relations 
both  of  space  perception  and  geometrical  analyses  to  other 
types  of  thought,  especially  those  which  appear  in  the 
sciences  of  arithmetic  and  algebra.  By  way  of  summary  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  recognition  of  space  is  a 
complex  psychological  process  which  develops  in  the  course 
of  individual  contact  with  the  world,  especially  through 
movements  in  the  world.  Space  is  not  a  form  of  sensation 
and  is  not  dependent  on  any  single  group  of  sensations.  It 
is  a  relational  type  of  consciousness.  As  the  most  vivid  type 
of  relational  experience,  and  as  one  which  can  be  reproduced 
through  our  own  rearrangements  of  any  convenient  objects, 
it  serves  as  the  pattern  for  the  expression  of  all  other 
relational  forms  of  experience.  Space  is  in  turn  capable 
of  analysis  and  comparison ;  and  through  these  higher 
forms  of  study,  space  perception  is  itself  refined  and 
clarified  and  is  made  the  object  of  an  elaborate  science. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY 

SOURCES  OF  MATERIAL 

In  attempting  to  make  a  psychological  analysis  of  geometry 
there  are  several  possible  sources  of  material :  first,  we  may 
take  a  textbook  prepared  for  the  use  of  students,  and  note 
the  mental  processes  which  the  successive  exercises  are  in- 
tended to  call  out ;  second,  we  may  attend  class  exercises  in 
the  subject,  and  give  attention  to  the  mental  processes  of 
the  students,  noting  incidentally  the  mental  processes  of  the 
teacher  and  his  ability  to  recognize  what  is  going  on  in  the 
minds  of  his  students ;  third,  we  may  go  through  the  vari- 
ous books  which  have  been  written  on  the  teaching  of 
geometry,  noting  the  problems  which  are  there  discussed 
and  the  solutions  offered  by  the  various  writers. 

TEXTBOOK  METHOD  OF  EXEMPLIFYING  SPACE 

The  textbook  in  geometry  which  we  shall  use  for  the 
purpose  of  this  study l  begins  with  a  series  of  definitions  of 
the  terms  which  are  to  be  employed.  On  the  first  page  is 
the  figure  of  a  cube.  The  figure  is  a  less  complete  basis  for 
direct  perception  than  a  real  cube  would  be,  because  it  is 
two-dimensional ;  but  with  all  of  its  limitations  it  furnishes 
a  concrete  perceptual  basis  for  the  study.  We  pause  to  note 
that  space  is  one  of  the  simplest  materials  to  present  to 
students.  Most  sciences  have  to  collect  their  materials  at 

1  G.  A.  Wentworth,  Elements  of  Plane  and  Solid  Geometry  (edition  of 
1889).  Ginn  and  Company. 

46 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     47 

i 

some  cost  of  time  and  energy,  but  space  is  everywhere 
available.  The  figure  of  a  cube  allows  the  author  to  begin 
with  a  definite  concrete  example  of  that  which  his  science 
is  to  study.  By  looking  at  the  figure  given  in  the  book  and 
by  reading  the  text,  the  student  is  led  to  recognize  the  fact 
that  the  cube  has  a  number  of  different  surfaces,  lines,  and 
points.  The  psychological  process  which  is  her.e  involved 
is  a  process  of  analysis ;  the  parts  are  distinguished.  As 
soon  as  the  student  distinguishes  the  parts  of  the  figure,  the 
definitions  draw  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  different 
parts  of  this  figure  have  different  characteristics  as  well  as 
different  appearances.  Thus  a  side  or  surface  is  different 
from  an  edge  or  line. 

VALUE  OF  VERBAL  DISCUSSIONS 

The  words  used  in  the  definition  have  a  double  value: 
first,  they  direct  the  attention  of  the  student  so  that  he 
selects  certain  aspects  of  his  percept  for  attentive  consid- 
eration ;  second,  the  text  helps  the  student  to  substitute 
words  for  his  percepts.  The  use  of  words  instead  of  figures 
makes  it  possible  to  carry  on  later  discussions  in  a  way 
which  would  not  have  been  possible  if  space  images  alone 
were  employed.  Words  are  more  readily  compared,  and 
space  ideas  which  have  been  turned  into  words  are  by 
this  translation  made  ready  for  new  and  higher  nonspatial 
comparisons.  Thus  the  word  "  line  "  may  be  put  into  all 
kinds  of  sentence  relations;  it  is  a  more  plastic  element 
of  experience  than  is  a  linear  figure. 

In  a  later  chapter  we  shall  have  opportunity  to  comment 
more  fully  on  the  flexibility  of  verbal  ideas  and  upon  the 
fact  that  the  human  mind  tends  to  carry  on  all  its  higher 
processes  in  verbal  form.  At  the  moment  we  must  be  satis- 
fied to  note  that  the  association  of  space  ideas  with  words 
raises  the  mental  processes  of  the  student  to  a  level  where 


48    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

scientific  comparisons  are  rendered  easier.  This  fact  is  illus- 
trated by  the  use  to  which  the  verbal  ideas  are  put,  even 
in  the  preliminary  definitions.  Thus  we  come  very  soon 
to  the  statement  that  a  line  has  only  one  dimension,  namely, 
length.  Here  the  student  is  called  upon  not  only  to  relate 
a  visual  image  of  a  line  to  a  word,  but  he  is  called  upon  to 
strip  the  visual  image  of  certain  of  its  obvious  characteris- 
tics. He  knows  that  every  real  line  which  he  sees  has 
breadth  and  thickness ;  but  he  must  learn  that  it  is  not 
the  purpose  of  the  student  of  geometry  to  give  attention 
at  any  time  to  the  breadth  and  thickness  of  the  particular 
lines  with  which  he  has  to  deal.  Words,  therefore,  help 
the  student  to  carry  his  analysis  beyond  the  figure  as  it  is 
presented  to  his  senses.  This  ability  to  go  beyond  the  real 
experiences  in  the  interests  of  a  special  scientific  study 
we  call  abstraction.  The  use  of  words  in  geometry,  there- 
fore, is  an  example  of  one  of  those  higher  forms  of  thought 
which  were  discussed  in  the  last  chapter,  when  it  was 
pointed  out  that  space  is  not  only  recognized,  but  is  also 
compared  with  other  experiences  for  the  purpose  of  bring- 
ing out  characteristics  which  can  be  apprehended  only 
through  higher  forms  of  thought. 

SPECIAL  SCIENTIFIC  SYMBOLS 

The  first  page  of  definitions  furthermore  exhibits  a  de- 
vice whereby  the  student's  attention  may  be  fixed  upon 
certain  parts  of  a  figure  through  the  use  of  symbols,  which 
are  even  simpler  than -words.  One  corner  of  the  cube  is 
designated  by  the  letter  A,  another  by  the  letter  B,  and  so 
on.  We  have  here  a  technical  kind  of  terminology  which 
is  created  for  the  purposes  of  geometrical  study.  The  ter- 
minology is  relatively  simple  from  one  point  of  view.  It 
avoids  such  circumlocutions  as  this :  "  that  surface  of  a 
cube  which  is  turned  directly  toward  the  observer,"  or  "  the 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY    49 

corner  of  the  cube  which  appears  at  the  lower  right- 
hand  side  of  the  page."  Rather  than  use  these  long  and 
clumsy  descriptive  phrases,  the  author  uses  a  single  letter 
or  series  of  letters.  By  putting  letters  on  the  figure,  and 
using  them  in  the  later  discussions,  he  gives  a  perfectly 
clear  designation  to  the  parts  of  the  figure  with  which  he 
wishes  to  deal.  Such  letters  are,  however,  dependent  for 
their  interpretation  on  the  figures  to  which  they  are  at- 
tached. Unless  one  has  the  figure  before  him  or  in  mind, 
he  will  not  be  able  to  use  the  letters.  The  word  "  line  "  or 
the  word  "surface"  each  has  a  meaning  which  is  independ- 
ent of  any  particular  figure  or  any  particular  connection 
in  which  it  may  be  employed.  It  is  therefore  a  general 
term,  or  a  meaningful  term,  for  all  connections ;  but  the 
letter  A  is  a  specific  term  relating  to  a  specific  figure,  useful 
as  a  technical  abbreviation,  but  not  significant  when  taken 
out  of  the  particular  connection  in  which  it  is  given.  Every 
teacher  of  geometry  knows  the  disastrous  consequences 
which  follow  when  a  student  fails  to  keep  together  in 
thought  the  letter  and  the  figure  to  which  it  properly 
relates.  Words  are  in  a  measure  open  to  a  like  objection 
—  that  the  student  sometimes  goes  astray  because  word 
and  meaning  get  separated ;  but  a  letter,  for  the  reasons 
given,  is  much  more  in  danger  of  losing  its  connection. 

ABSTRACT  IDEAS 

Especial  attention  should,  perhaps,  be  devoted  to  the  type 
of  idea  which  the  student  is  called  upon  to  develop  in  con- 
nection with  the  definition  of  a  point  as  a  purely  geometri- 
cal conception.  "A  point,"  he  is  told,  "  has  no  dimensions, 
but  denotes  position  simply."  This  definition  of  a  point  is 
an  effort,  as  is  the  definition  of  a  line,  to  aid  the  student  in 
getting  rid  of  the  direct  sensory  content  which  is  always 
present  in  any  real  point  which  he  observes.  The  definition 


50    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

illustrates  very  fully  the  conclusion  which  was  reached  in 
the  last  chapter,  when  it  was  pointed  out  that  space  can 
never  be  recognized  except  in  terms  of  some  kind  of  sen- 
sory content.  One  tries  by  the  substitution  of  an  abstract 
verbal  idea  for  sensory  content  to  get  rid  of  as  much  sen- 
sory content  as  he  can,  in  order  to  leave  behind  the  pure 
spatial  elements  of  experience. 

Another  definition  which  may  be  noted  as  especially  sig- 
nificant for  our  psychological  study  is  that  in  which  the 
student  is  told  that  any  figure  is  a  limited  portion  of  space. 
This  definition  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  same 
kind  of  space  extends  on  all  sides  of  a  given  figure.  There 
is  an  implication  here  which  comes  out  more  clearly  in  later 
discussions ;  namely,  the  implication  that  any  limited  portion 
of  space  has  the  fundamental  characteristics  of  all  space. 
Indeed,  geometry  recognizes  that  all  space  is  absolutely 
homogeneous.  Any  limited  portion  of  space  which  is  se- 
lected for  discussion  is  a  representative  of  other  limited 
portions  of  space  or  of  space  in  general.  We  may  regard 
a  figure,  therefore,  as  a  representative  example  rather 
than  as  a  single  isolated  experience  significant  in  itself. 
Thus,  while  our  definition  of  a  point  attempts  to  get  rid 
of  all  the  content,  the  statement  that  a  given  figure  is  a 
limited  portion  of  space  attempts  to  generalize  or  extend 
the  conclusions  of  any  particular  discussion  to  the  larger 
field  of  all  space. 

ANALYTICAL  STUDIES  OF  SPACE 

The  mental  processes  required  to  understand  the  defini- 
tions which  have  been  discussed  up  to  this  point  are  space 
perception  and  the  higher  processes  of  analysis,  abstraction, 
and  interpretation  of  symbols. 

We  pass  now  to  another  phase  of  geometrical  science. 
Not  only  are  the  different  parts  and  aspects  of  figures  to 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     51 

be  distinguished,  but  the  properties  of  figures  and  geomet- 
rical elements  must  be  discovered.  What  can  be  said  about 
a  point  differs  from  the  definition  of  the  point  itself,  in  that 
higher  and  more  complex  groups  of  ideas  are  involved. 
Thus  one  of  the  statements  which  is  made  about  the  prop- 
erties of  a  point  is  that  "  through  a  point  an  indefinite 
number  of  straight  lines  may  be  drawn."  This  statement, 
though  included  among  definitions,  is  not  strictly  a  defini- 
tion. It  is,  rather,  an  effort  to  get  the  student  to  consider 
carefully  some  of  the  facts  which  are  outside  of  the  point, 
but  closely  related  to  it.  The  statement  is  put  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  science  because  it  is  obvious.  The  student 
can  find  the  truth  of  this  fact  if  he  scrutinizes  his  experi- 
ences, and  brings  to  clear  consciousness  that  which  he  can 
readily  justify,  but  which  he  has  probably  never  before 
recognized  with  explicit  clearness.  The  words  of  this  state- 
ment are  intended  to  call  up  in  the  student's  mind  a  whole 
series  of  experiments.  He  will  try  to  draw  different  lines 
through  an  imaginary  point,  and  will  note  the  characteristic 
relation  between  these  different  lines  and  the  point.  The 
mental  process  thus  induced  is  relatively  direct,  but  it  is 
by  no  means  a  mere  matter  of  space  perception.  It  is  a 
matter  of  experimentation  and  a  matter  of  comparison,  with 
a  view  to  discovering  and  recording  explicitly  facts  which 
will  be  of  use  in  later  elaborate  studies. 

By  guiding  students  through  such  simple  experiments 
as  these  the  geometrician  prepares  them  to  try  all  possi- 
ble combinations  and  recombinations  of  figures.  One  can 
imagine,  for  example,  that  the  first  student  of  geometry 
who  explicitly  formulated  the  statement  that  an  indefinite 
number  of  lines  can  be  drawn  through  a  single  point  re- 
garded the  fact  as  a  discovery.  It  was  a  discovery,  not  of 
an  obscure  fact,  but  a  discovery  in  explicit  form  of  a  fun- 
damental fact  which  all  along  had  been  present  in  experi- 
ences, but  was  now  brought  to  attention  as  of  sufficient 


52    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

importance  to  be  treated  as  a  distinct  and  explicit  matter 
of  comment. 

There  is  a  large  part  of  geometry  which  may  be  described 
as  the  explicit  statement  of  characteristics  which  are  capa- 
ble of  direct  observation,  but  which  are  not  distinguished 
from  total  experience  until  geometrical  analysis  has  made 
them  clear.  The  attitude  of  an  ordinary  man  to  one  of 
these  explicit  statements  in  geometry  very  frequently  is 
that  the  statement  is  hardly  worth  making  because  it  is  so 
obvious.  The  attitude  of  beginning  students  is  very  often 
one  of  disregard  for  these  obvious  analyses,  but  it  is  through 
the  combination  and  recombination  of  these  direct  analyses 
'that  the  science  of  geometry  is  ultimately  developed.  All 
of  the  later  propositions  in  geometry  must  be  traced  back 
to  postulates ;  that  is,  to  simple  analyses  which  depend  on 
direct  experimentation. 

PROBLEM  OF  PEDAGOGICAL  ARRANGEMENT 

It  might  be  questioned  whether  the  textbook  in  geometry 
ought  to  give  these  analyses  at  the  beginning.  Certainly 
the  recognition  on  the  part  of  the  student  of  the  motive  for 
these  simple  forms  of  analysis  is  not  complete  until  after  he 
has  gone  farther  in  his  study.  On  the  other  hand,  no  stu- 
dent will  begin  to  analyze  his  experiences  until  someone 
sets  him  thinking  about  the  properties  of  figures.  When 
the  child  begins  to  play  with  paper  and  pencil  and  finds 
that  he  can  draw  a  great  variety  of  lines,  he  is  working 
toward  the  statement  that  an  infinite  number  of  lines  can 
be  drawn  through  a  single  point,  but  he  is  not  likely  to  hit 
upon  that  particular  idea  until  he  has  cultivated  a  large 
experience  with  lines  and  with  points.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  scientist  who  has  made  a  careful  examination  of  the 
properties  of  different  geometrical  elements  comes  to  realize 
the  fact  that  this  statement  with  regard  to  lines  and  points 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     53 

is  the  logical  foundation  for  many  of  the  more  elaborate 
discussions  and  analyses  of  space.  The  writer  of  a  text- 
book, therefore,  puts  this  logically  simple  proposition  at 
the  beginning  of  his  science. 

To  begin  with  definitions  in  any  subject  requires  of  the 
immature  student  some  appreciation  of  values  which  it  is 
quite  impossible  for  him  fully  to  recognize  until  he  has 
progressed  to  a  high  degree  of  knowledge  of  the  subject  as 
a  whole.  Psychologically,  therefore,  the  procedure  of  the 
geometrician  in  beginning  with  definitions  cannot  be  justified 
by  the  expectation  that  the  matters  dealt  with  in  these  defini- 
tions will  be  mastered  at  once  by  the  student.  As  we  shall 
see  later,  the  early  theorems  and  demonstrations  are  in  reality 
mere  repetitions  and  elaborations  of  the  definitions.  The  geo- 
metrician undoubtedly  holds  that  the  student's  time  would 
be  greatly  economized  if  he  could  only  take  up  the  subject 
in  the  order  which  the  mature  science  recognizes  as  most 
advantageous  for  the  development  of  the  later,  more  elabo- 
rate, propositions.  Perhaps  it  is  worth  the  effort  to  get  as 
many  of  these  obvious  analyses  as  possible  made,  even  if  it 
becomes  necessary  to  reestablish  the  definitions  by  later 
reiterations  in  more  detailed  form.  The  student  may  gain 
something  by  the  preliminary  statement,  even  though  he 
does  not  gain  all  that  he  might ;  but  the  teacher  of  experi- 
ence knows  how  little  some  students  really  absorb  the  first 
time  they  encounter  these  simple  analyses. 

The  practical  school  problem  here  presented  is  one  which 
cannot  be  solved  by  adopting  any  single  method  of  pro- 
cedure. In  some  cases  a  statement  of  the  definition  will 
induce  the  student  to  perform  the  desired  mental  process ; 
in  other  cases,  elaborate  reasoning  may  have  to  be  resorted 
to  before  the  student  is  made  to  see  the  truth  and  its 
importance.  Possibly  one  order  of  procedure  could  be 
advantageously  used  by  one  teacher,  while  the  other  order 
would  be  more  successfully  used  by  a  second  teacher.  This 


54    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  -SUBJECTS 

comment  indicates  the  relation  between  psychological  analy- 
sis and  the  methods  of  teaching.  Psychological  analysis  does 
not  determine  what  method  is  best ;  it  simply  indicates  the 
type  of  mental  process  which  is  to  be  cultivated.  There  is, 
therefore,  an  ample  field  for  experimental  treatment  of 
school  problems  that  lies  beyond  the  field  of  psychological 
analysis  itself.  Methods  aim  to  produce  psychological 
results,  but  there  may  be  several  methods  of  producing  a 
given  result.  The  contribution  which  psychology  can  make 
to  methods  may  be. described  by  saying  that  the  teacher  is 
more  likely  to  understand  what  he  is  doing  if  he  considers 
the  type  of  mental  process  which  he  is  setting  up. 

METHODS  OF  DEVELOPING  IDEAS 

It  is  psychologically  interesting  to  follow  the  mental 
development  at  which  the  author  aims  in  his  section  defin- 
ing angles.  Angles  are  first  defined  as  "  the  opening 
between  two  straight  lines."  Gradually  this  definition 
is  amplified  until  finally  we  are  told  that  an  angle  is  the 
result  of  the  rotation  of  a  line  about  a  point.  The  difference 
between  these  two  statements  is  that  in  the  first  statement 
a  single  definite  specimen  is  chosen  as  the  basis  of  consid- 
eration. When  we  take  a  single  angle  and  consider  it  as 
a  fixed  quantity,  we  may  illustrate  it  and  discuss  it  quite 
apart  from  any  other  elements  of  space.  When,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  generate  an  angle  by  rotating  a  line  about 
a  point,  we  show  the  relationship  between  any  given  angle 
and  the  rest  of  space.  The  angle  comes  to  be  a  part  of  a 
general  spatial  scheme.  The  relation  between  all  angles  is 
suggested  at  the  same  time  the  properties  of  a  single  angle 
are  exhibited.  The  term  "  angle  "  thus  comes  to  have  a  very 
much  broader  connotation  than  it  does  in  the  first  defini- 
tion. Or  one  may  say  that  a  principle  of  construction  is 
substituted  for  the  figure. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY    55 

METHODS  OP  TRAINING  IN  COMPARISON 

The  chapter  on  definitions  next  explains  certain  simple 
forms  of  comparison  which  are  not  spatial  at  all  but  are 
relational  in  one  of  the  higher  senses  referred  to  in  the  dis- 
cussions a  few  pages  back.  Thus  the  student  is  introduced 
to  methods  of  superposition.  When  two  lines  are  superim- 
posed upon  each  other  or  two  angles  are  superimposed  on 
each  other,  they  are  compared  with  a  view  to  discovering 
then1  likenesses  and  differences.  The  discovery  of  likenesses 
among  lines  is  comparable  to  the  discovery  of  likenesses  in 
economic  values  or  the  discovery  of  likenesses  in  rhetorical 
forms.  When  we  say  that  likeness  or  equality  is  a  general 
characteristic  discoverable  in  many  different  mental  experi- 
ences, we  must  amplify  this  statement  so  as  to  bring  out  the 
fact  that  the  method  of  reaching  the  judgment  of  likeness  is 
different  in  different  cases  according  to  the  material  com- 
pared. If  one  compares  economic  values,  for  example,  he 
does  not  superpose  one  value  upon  another.  If  one  com- 
pares two  musical  notes,  he  cannot  superimpose  them  to 
discover  whether  they  have  the  same  pitch.  These  examples 
show  that  the  comparison  of  two  lines  is  a  special  problem 
which  requires  the  student  to  know  not  only  how  to  recog- 
nize the  one  line  and  the  second  line  but  also  how  to  make 
the  comparison  in  a  definite  and  well-ordered  fashion.  The 
geometrician  finds  it  necessary  to  direct  his  student,  there- 
fore, in  methods  of  making  comparisons.  Comparisons  are 
necessary  in  order  to  bring  out  the  remoter  characteristics 
of  figures.  The  single  figure  is  no  longer  the  subject  of 
recognition  and  discussion ;  the  single  figure  must  be 
understood  by  finding  its  proper  place  in  science,  where 
likeness  and  unlikeness  are  quite  as  significant  as  distance 
and  form.  Indeed,  for  purposes  of  further  mental  develop- 
ment and  for  purposes  of  application,  comparisons  are 
indispensable. 


56    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

GEOMETRY  GOES  FAR  BEYOND  SPACE  PERCEPTION 

It  is  thus  made  clear  that  it  is  a  mistake  to  assume  that 
geometry  is  the  art  of  seeing  space.  Geometry  is  rather  the 
science  of  finding  out  all  that  can  be  discovered  with  regard 
to  the  characteristics  of  spatial  figures.  The  scientific  in- 
vestigation of  the  characteristics  of  figures  leads  us  into 
the  most  elaborate  logical  processes  of  comparison  and  in- 
ference. Indeed*,  so  large  a  part  of  geometry  is  made  up 
of  comparisons  that  the  mere  recognition  of  figures  is  likely 
to  drop  in  the  background.  We  select  a  few  easily  acces- 
sible samples  of  angles  and  compare  these  with  each  other. 
We  select  a  few  examples  of  triangles  and  compare  these 
with  each  other.  The  student  learns  how  to  make  the  com- 
parisons in  these  relatively  simple  cases.  He  then  general- 
izes his  findings  in  the  form  of  a  principle,  which  principle 
is  not  a  matter  of  perception  at  all. 

We  may  digress  for  a  moment  from  our  study  of  the 
textbook  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  science  of 
geometry  may  contribute  little  or  nothing  to  the  student's 
perception  of  space.  Space,  as  it  confronts  the  student  in 
architectural  forms,  in  the  shapes  of  animals  and  trees,  in 
the  perspective  of  the  street,  and  in  the  shadows  of  solid 
objects,  may  be  entirely  overlooked  while  the  student  buries 
himself  in  the  pages  of  definitions  and  comparisons  which 
go  to  make  up  his  book  on  the  science  of  geometry.  To  be 
sure,  the  analytical  studies  of  figures  might  make  the  stu- 
dent more  intelligent  in  the  observation  of  form  if  he  would 
apply  his  analysis  to  objects  about  him.  It  has  been  one  of 
the  mistakes  of  the  modern  school  that  it  has  assumed  that 
the  student  can  readily  carry  over  his  textbook  studies  into 
ordinary  life.  What  is  needed  is  more  attention  to  the  ob- 
servation and  analysis  of  all  forms.  The  student  must  be 
taughj;  geometrical  analysis,  and,  at  the  same  time,  he  must 
be  taught  to  apply  this  analysis  to  figures  outside  of  the 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     57 

textbook.  In  later  chapters  we  shall  have  occasion  to  come 
back  to  this  problem  of  generalizing  experience.  For  the 
moment  we  must  be  content  to  leave  the  matter,  with  a 
reiteration  of  the  statement  that  geometrical  analysis  and 
space  perception  are  different  processes,  and  that  there  is  a 
possibility  of  their  developing  in  the  student's  mind  quite 
apart  from  each  other.  The  student  must,  however,  in  any 
case,  have  enough  space  perception  to  furnish  the  basis  for 
his  complete  scientific  study. 

GEOMETRY  AND  MECHANICS 

Returning  to  our  examination  of  the  textbook,  we  find 
after  superposition  a  discussion  of  symmetry.  The  type  of 
comparison  here  involved  is  higher  than  that  required  to 
discover  equality.  In  superposition  one  thinks  of  a  spatial 
element  brought  into  the  closest  possible  relation  to  a  sec- 
ond spatial  element  with  which  comparison  is  to  be  made. 
In  the  case  of  symmetry  the  two  spatial  facts  to  be  com- 
pared lie  on  opposite  sides  of  the  center  of  comparison.  The 
mind  must  therefore  pass  from  one  side  of  the  symmetrical 
figure  to  the  other  in  making  its  comparisons.  Further- 
more, the  elements  must  be  compared  with  due  regard 
to  the  fact  that  in  their  present  relationship  they  resist 
superposition. 

As  pointed  out  in  the  last  chapter,  all  of  our  space  ideas 
are  developed  in  a  world  where  movements  must  follow 
mechanical  laws.  Consequently,  all  our  space  experiences 
contain  a  large  element  of  conformity  to  mechanical  laws. 
Symmetry  of  spatial  figures  is  an  aspect  of  space  perception 
which  differs  radically  from  that  aspect  which  we  refer  to 
by  such  terms  as  "  length  "  and  "  distance."  Length  and 
distance  depend  upon  quantity  of  experiences,  but  symmetry 
depends  rather  upon  a  recognition  of  mechanical  balance. 
When  we  deal  with  symmetry,  therefore,  we  are  dealing 


58    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

with  a  special  aspect  of  space  experience.  Geometry  has 
never  been  satisfied  to  regard  comparison  through  symme- 
try as  of  equal  fundamental  reliability  with  comparison 
through  superposition.  When,  for  example,  one  wishes  to 
deal  with  the  vertical  angles  which  are  made  by  two  inter- 
secting lines,  or  with  the  relations  of  the  angles  formed  by 
a  line  crossing  a  pair  of  parallels,  he  finds  himself  trying  to 
reduce  an  experience  which  is  primarily  an  experience  of 
symmetry  to  that  type  of  comparison  which  we  have  in  super- 
position. The  geometrician  frankly  acknowledges  that  this 
effort  to  reduce  symmetry  to  superposition  is  artificial  and 
probably  unnecessary,  but  he  does  not  feel  satisfied  to  rest 
his  geometrical  demonstrations  upon  the  recognition  of  sym- 
metry, because  such  recognition  seems  to  be  more  indirect. 
Thus  we  see  that  a  psychological  analysis  of  the  notion 
of  symmetry  throws  an  interesting  light  on  an  ancient  geo- 
metrical discussion.  Symmetry  is  not  as  direct  as  super- 
position. Superposition  in  turn  is  not  as  direct  as  simple 
perception.  Possibilities  of  error  increase  with  the  increas- 
ing complexity  of  the  psychological  processes.  Stating  the 
successive  stages  of  probable  error  explicitly,  we  may  say 
that  the  perception  of  a  line  is  simpler  than  the  comparison 
of  one  line  with  another.  The  comparison  of  one  line  with 
another  when  they  are  placed  side  by  side  is  easier  than 
the  comparison  of  two  lines  which  balance  each  other  on 
two  sides  of  a  point.  Geometry  gives  us  a  definition  of 
a  line  which  is  looked  upon  as  unquestionable.  Geometry 
makes  certain  fundamental  and  very  direct  comparisons  of 
lines  by  superposition.  In  practical  experiences  these  super- 
positions become  more  and  more  uncertain  as  the  objects 
superimposed  become  more  complex.  All  the  difficulties 
which  arise  in  measuring  can  be  cited  as  examples  of  in- 
creasing difficulty  of  comparison,  for  in  processes  of  meas- 
urement we  have  to  deal  with  complex  superpositions. 
Finally,  geometry  becomes  very  cautious  when  comparisons 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     59 

begin  to  depend  on  a  recognition  or  demonstration  of  sym- 
metry. Here  it  is  insisted  that  the  problem  be  broken  up 
into  elements  and  the  comparisons  reduced,  if  possible,  to 
one  of  the  simpler  forms. 

I 
WORKING  DEFINITIONS  INCLUDED  IN  GEOMETRY        i 

We  may  pass  over  briefly  the  paragraph  of  definitions 
dealing  with  such  terms  as  "  proof,"  "  theorem,"  and  "  prob- ' 
lem."  These  definitions  of  terms  are  not  directly  concerned 
with  space,  but  are  intended  to  indicate  to  the  student  the 
various  different  modes  of  procedure  which  are  followed  hi 
performing  geometrical  analyses  and  comparisons.  For  ex- 
ample, when  the  definition  of  a  construction  is  given,  the 
definition  is  merely  the  statement  that  in  certain  cases  cer- 
tain preliminary  steps  must  be  taken  by  the  student  in 
order  that  he  get  a  clear  notion  of  what  he  is  going  to  do. 
Geometry  has  to  employ  such  terms  describing  procedure 
in  order  to  set  the  student  at  work  on  the  problems  which 
are  to  be  solved.  Such  terms  as  these  are  not,  as  stated 
above,  spatial ;  some  of  them  are  not  even  logical  terms  ; 
they  are  working  terms  used  in  collecting  the  material  for 
geometrical  comparisons. 

LOGICAL  DEFINITIONS 

We  come  finally  to  a  discussion  of  axioms  and  postulates. 
The  postulates  are  to  be  distinguished  from  the  axioms  by 
the  fact  that  postulates  describe  spatial  experiences,  whereas 
the  axioms  refer  rather  to  the  fundamental  laws  of  thinking 
which  are  valid  for  all  sorts  of  processes  of  comparison. 
Thus  the  first  postulate  states  that  a  straight  line  can  be 
drawn  from  any  point  to  any  other  point.  Contrast  this 
with  the  first  axiom,  which  states  that  things  which  are 
equal  to  the  same  thing  are  equal  to  each  other.  The 


60    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

postulate  deals  with  a  spatial  fact.  The  axiom,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  not  a  statement  of  a  spatial  fact  at  all ;  it  is  rather 
a  fundamental  principle  of  a  logical  type.  It  is  important 
to  note  while  making  this  distinction  that  the  logical 
axioms  of  geometry  are  always  looked  upon  by  geome- 
tricians as  parts  of  their  science.  This  fact  gives  increasing 
evidence  in  support  of  the  conclusion  pointed  out  before, 
that  the  science  of  geometry  is  so  absorbed  in  directing  and 
controlling  processes  of  comparison  that  in  many  instances 
the  spatial  material  on  which  these  logical  processes  are 
exercised  sinks  into  the  background.  Geometricians  often 
neglect  space  and  emphasize  logic.  The  result  is  that  in 
many  cases  the  student  is  trained  not  in  the  observation 
of  lines  and  figures,  but  chiefly  in  the  methods  of  making 
logical  comparisons.  It  is  possible  to  find  students  of  geom- 
etry quite  unobserving  of  form.'  This  situation  will  be 
understood  wherever  it  is  found  that  the  primary  emphasis 
is  on  axioms. 

THEOREMS  CONTRASTED  WITH  DEFINITIONS 

We  turn  now  to  the  first  book  and  find  that  the  early 
theorems  are  elaborations  of  the  definitions  given  in  the 
preliminary  pages.  These  early  demonstrations  are  so  direct 
and  obvious  that  the  psychological  analyst  is  at  first  in 
doubt  as  to  the  possibility  of  discovering  any  new  mental 
processes  not  found  in  the  foregoing  study  of  definitions. 
However,  on  closer  study  a  clear  psychological  and  peda- 
gogical difference  appears  between  definitions  and  demon- 
strations. A  definition  is  a  closed,  compact  statement.  A 
demonstration  is  a  detailed  and  explicit  unraveling  of  the 
situation.  In  a  demonstration,  however  simple,  one  phase 
afte^  another  of  the  total  situation  is  scrutinized  and  reduced 
to  the  form  of  a  separate  statement.  While  the  early  theo- 
rems do  not  use  very  complex  series  of  statements,  they  train 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     61 

the  student  in  the  use  of  a  form  of  analysis  which  was 
assumed  but  not  demanded  in  the  definitions.  If  the  student 
can  be  trained  in  analyzing  a  situation  which  is  fairly  obvi- 
ous, he  will  be  better  prepared  to  take  up  situations  which 
are  not  obvious.  Furthermore,  this  explicit  analysis  serves 
to  review  many  of  the  statements  included  in  the  introduc- 
tory chapter  on  definitions. 

Finally,  one  notes  as  he  examines  the  demonstrations 
that  they  are  made  up  of  successive  steps,  which  steps 
must  be  held  together  in  one  general  mental  process.  This 
process  of  holding  together  the  products  of  analysis  calls 
for  a  type  and  reach  of  attention  which  is  higher  than  that 
which  is  required  in  learning  a  definition.  To  hold  in  mind 
a  single  question,  and  bring  to  bear  in  answering  this  ques- 
tion a  chain  of  evidence,  is  a  higher  type  of  reasoning  than 
that  which  is  involved  in  mastering  a  single  final  statement. 

The  later  demonstrations  which  appear  as  one  progresses 
through  the  text  involve  in  increasing  degree  this  power  of 
combining  the  results  of  successive  steps  of  analysis.  They 
also  involve  retention  and  recall  of  the  results  of  earlier 
discussions.  It  would  be  interesting  to  find  out  in  what 
terms  different  students  remember  propositions.  Doubtless 
there  are  some  students  who  recall  vividly  the  spatial  fig- 
ures ;  others  recall  the  verbal  formulas  used  in  stating  the 
theorems ;  others  think  of  the  steps  of  reasoning.  The  ability 
of  a  given  student  to  use  his  knowledge  of  a  theorem  in 
later  demonstrations  is  undoubtedly  related  very  closely  to 
the  form  in  which  propositions  studied  earlier  lie  in  his  mind, 

PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  ORIGINAL  PROBLEMS 

The  last  remark  leads  us  to  a  consideration  of  the  dif- 
ference between  a  demonstration  and  a  so-called  original 
exercise.  In  the  original  exercise  the  student  must  first 
analyze  the  situation  which  is  propounded,  and  then  he 


62    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

must  be  able  to  draw  out  of  the  fund  of  experience  which 
he  has  accumulated  the  principles  which  will  help  him  hi 
solving  his  complex  present  experience.  There  is  no  rule 
which  can  be  learned  to  guide  in  solving  originals,  because 
the  solution  depends  on  the  student's  ability  to  look  around 
in  his  mind  and  find  among  the  contents  of  his  experience 
the  propositions  which  fit  the  present  case.  The  psychologi- 
cal process  can  be  described  after  it  has  taken  place ;  but  it 
cannot  be  prophesied  in  advance,  because  the  student  may 
make  his  analysis  in  one  of  many  different  ways,  and  he 
may  make  many  a  failure  in  trying  to  fit  one  remembered 
proposition  after  another  into  the  present  situation  before 
he  finds  the  right  combination  to  complete  the  thought 
process.  The  only  way  to  teach  a  student  to  solve  origi- 
nals is  to  teach  him  how  to  analyze  a  new  problem  and 
how  to  seek  among  his  store  of  experiences.  A  demonstra- 
tion given  in  the  text,  on  the  other  hand,  requires  only 
ability  to  follow  the  statements  that  are  set  down  in  the 
book.  The  student  does  not  have  to  search  around  in  his 
mind  among  the  many  possible  combinations ;  he  has  only 
to  follow  one  combination  which  is  given.  The  student 
gets  inferior  training  when  he  merely  follows  another's 
lead.  If  he  stops  to  think  at  all  how  the  author  hit  on 
the  solution  of  his  problem,  he  is  apt  lazily  to  set  aside 
the  question  because  it  seems  unnecessary. 

The  student  should  in  some  way  gain  an  insight  into  the 
methods  employed  by  the  author  in  solving  his  problem. 
Whenever  it  is  possible  more  than  one  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem should  be  presented,  and  the  merits  and  demerits  of  each 
solution  should  be  discussed.  Some  comments  on  method 
should  be  introduced  into  the  text  itself.  The  only  possible 
justification  for  giving  a  student  a  solution  is  to  train  him 
in  methods  of  solving  problems  economically  and  in  rigid 
form.  The  mistake  is  too  often  made  of  dragging  a  stu- 
dent along  too  rapidly  over  a  path  which  someone  else  has 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETBY     63 

mysteriously  marked  out.  The  student  walks  in  the  path, 
but  never  for  a  moment  thinks  of  stepping  out  of  it  or  mov- 
ing faster  than  his  guide.  Geometry  learned  under  such 
conditions  becomes  the  most  formal  kind  of  drill  in  memory. 
Students  thus  trained  never  can  apply  what  they  learn. 
Indeed,  they  are  more  and  more  bound  down  by  every  lesson 
they  study  to  a  slavish  adherence  to  the  text.  Rote  memory 
is  thus  unfortunately  substituted  for  the  supposed  scien- 
tific analysis  of  space,  which  is  the  aim  set  by  the  teacher 
of  geometry  for  his  work. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL   MATERIAL  DERIVED  FROM   OBSERVA- 
TION OF  CLASS  WORK 

Turning  now  from  the  textbook  to  the  students,  we  must 
note  one  general  fact ;  the  reactions  of  students  to  the  les- 
sons set  for  them  are  infinite  in  their  variety.  No  psycho- 
logical principle  is  more  strikingly  proved  by  every  class 
exercise  than  the  principle  that  mental  life  shows  marked 
individual  variations.  The  effort  to  give  an  outline  of  some 
of  these  individual  variations  may  seem  to  experienced 
teachers  labored  and  meager  in  results,  but  it  will  be 
undertaken  hi  the  hope  of  stimulating  these  experienced 
teachers  to  record  their  broader  observations.  For  the  pur- 
poses of  this  study  the  writer  visited  a  class  of  second-year 
students  who  had  been  studying  geometry  for  seven  months. 
The  class  exercise  preceding  the  one  visited  had  been  de- 
voted to  the  study  of  the  two  general  theorems :  "  If  a  circle 
is  divided  into  equal  parts,  and  if  the  successive  points  of 
division  are  connected  by  line-segments,  the  polygon  so 
formed  is  a  regular  inserted  polygon";  and  "If  a  circle 
is  divided  into  equal  parts,  and  if  tangents  are  drawn  at 
the  points  of  division,  a  regular  circumscribed  polygon  is 
formed."  The  members  of  the  class  were  not  required 
to  make  any  outside  preparation,  and  during  the  period 


64    PSYCHOLOGY  OP  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

they  inscribed  and  circumscribed  squares,  octagons,  and 
hexagons,  and  developed  the  demonstrations  related  to  their 
constructions.  During  the  exercise  several  types  of  diffi- 
culty arose. 

LOGICAL  PROCESSES   DISTINGUISHED  FROM  PROCESSES 
OF  DIRECT  KNOWLEDGE 

One  member  of  the  class  inscribed  a  square  in  a  circle  by 
first  drawing  diameters  perpendicular  to  each  other.  The 
proof  following  this  construction  should  have  proceeded 
from  the  equality  of  the  angles  at  the  center  of  the  circle  to 
the  equality  of  the  arcs  subtended  by  equal  angles,  and  so  on. 
After  the  construction  had  been  completed  and  proof  was 
called  for,  however,  it  became  apparent  that  the  members  of 
the  class  knew  all  the  facts  necessary  to  prove  that  they 
had  inscribed  the  square,  but  they  did  not  readily  arrange 
their  facts  in  logical  order.  They  were  not  able  to  take  the 
strictly  analytical  view  and  to  proceed  step  by  step  to  the 
end  sought.  The  trouble  in  this  case  was  that  the  spatial 
facts  were  known,  and  the  individual  items  of  the  proof 
were  known,  but  the  notion  of  an  organized  logical  demon- 
stration was  deficient.  Thus  one  student  insisted  on  starting 
with  the  fact  that  the  arcs  of  the  circle  are  equal  when  log- 
ically it  was  necessary  to  show  first  that  the  arcs  are  equal. 
Such  errors  of  using  the  converse  in  proof  are  familiar 
errors  in  the  work  of  geometry  students.  They  do  not  bear 
in  mind  what  is  given  and  what  is  to  be  proved.  It  cannot 
be  said  that  they  are  deficient  in  memory.  They  know  all 
the  facts.  Their  deficiency  is  altogether  in  their  lack  of 
appreciation  of  the  demands  of  logic.  The  student  is  con- 
fused at  times  because  as  an  observer  of  space  relations  his 
comments  are  quite  right  and  equally  obvious  to  him.  He 
cannot  distinguish  between  his  knowledge  of  space  and  the 
logical  process  of  demonstration. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     65 

Again,  the  opposite  type  of  difficulty  appeared  in  two 
cases  when  students  were  not  able  to  pass  from  a  logical 
demonstration  to  the  spatial  fact.  The  first  of  these  two 
cases  was  as  follows:  After  the  square  was  inscribed,  the 
question  was  asked,  "What  other  figures  can  now  be  readily 
drawn  ?  "  The  answer  was  given,  "An  eight-sided  figure,  by 
bisecting  the  central  angles  or  by  bisecting  the  arcs."  The 
instructor  put  marks  on  the  circumference  assuming  that 
the  bisecting  had  been  done.  The  new  points  were  named 
F,  K,  etc.  The  next  step  in  construction  was  to  connect 
these  new  points  with  the  old  points  A,  J5,  etc.,  but  the 
student  who  had  correctly  stated  that  the  arcs  should  be 
bisected  did  not  see  how  to  go  on.  She  suggested  connect- 
ing f\  one  of  the  new  points,  with  JT,  another  of  the  new 
points.  Her  confusion  increased  when  objection  was  raised. 
Evidently  when  she  described  the  method  of  getting  eight 
sides,  she  was  thinking  in  abstract  terms  and  could  not, 
even  with  the  figure  before  her,  see  at  once  the  space  rela- 
tions involved.  Another  case  of  a  similar  type  appeared 
when  the  class  began  to  discuss  constructing  a  hexagon. 
One  member  of  the  class  —  knowing  that  the  division  of  the 
circumference  could  be  made  with  the  aid  of  the  radius  — 
began  to  work  on  the  problem  by  going  back  to  the  value 
of  TT.  Once  started  on  this  kind  of  reasoning,  the  student 
could  not  give  it  up.  Even  after  the  figure  was  drawn 
and  on  the  board,  the  desire  to  deal  with  the  matter  in 
terms  of  TT  reappeared.  The  fact  that  the  circumference 
had  in  no  case  been  measured  was  of  no  avail  in  getting 
this  student's  mind  off  TT.  That  train  of  ideas  once  started, 
the  solution  was  sought  abstractly  and  persistently  in  the 
single  unproductive  direction.  The  figure  before  the  eyes 
was  neglected  in  favor  of  an  idea  in  thought  which  was 
so  vivid  and  insistent  that  the  student  could  not  get 
away  from  it. 


66    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

PRACTICAL  PROCEDURE  AND  SCIENTIFIC  ANALYSIS 

A  third  type  of  difficulty  appeared  because  the  member 
of  the  class  who  began  the  problem  of  inscribing  the  hexa- 
gon knew  that  the  method  of  procedure  was  to  measure  off 
chords  equal  to  the  radius,  but  he  did  not  know  the  reason 
for  this  method.  He  got  the  result  in  terms  that  seemed 
satisfactory  so  far  as  the  figure  showed,  but  he  was  soon 
persuaded  by  the  instructor  that  he  had  no  evidence  that 
his  last  chord  was  equal  to  the  radius.  He  then  was  lost. 
He  did  not  know  how  to  go  back  and  get  the  fundamental 
fact  that  he  needed  equal  central  angles.  A  rule  of  proce- 
dure is  very  often  far  enough  removed  from  the  fundamental 
fact  so  that  once  the  mind  is  fixed  on  the  rule  of  procedure 
it  is  very  difficult  to  adopt  the  logical  attitude.  Even  when 
the  student  saw  that  his  rule  was  not  a  demonstration,  he 
could  not  get  away  from  the  circumference  long  enough 
to  think  of  the  angles  at  the  center.  The  mode  of  approach 
was  confusing  because  it  turned  attention  in  the  wrong 
direction.  The  instructor  said  that  in  other  classes  the  fact 
that  the  central  angle  is  the  important  fact  is  usually  rec- 
ognized. Perhaps  it  would  have  been  better  in  this  case  to 
have  criticized  the  boy  when  he  began  with  a  practical  rule 
of  procedure.  On  the  other  hand,  the  independence  of  the 
class  is  quite  as  much  at  stake  as  logical  procedure,  and 
the  class  undoubtedly  must  face  cases  where  the  wrong 
entrance  on  the  problem  occurs  and  must  be  overcome. 
The  class  finally  discovered  the  equilateral  triangles  re- 
quired for  demonstration  and  worked  out  the  proof,  but 
the  student  who  began  could  not.  He  was  committed  to 
his  practical  rule  and  could  not  get  a  point  of  departure 
suitable  for  the  proof.  He  illustrated  by  his  attitude  of 
mind  the  antithesis  so  common  in  life  between  the  practi- 
cal and  the  theoretical  method  of  dealing  with  situations. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     67 

DlFFEEENT   SPHEKES    OF   EXPERIENCE   IN    GEOMETRY 

Up  to  this  point  we  have  seen  three  spheres  of  experi- 
ence, each  of  which  is  so  different  from  the  others  that 
transition  out  of  the  one  into  another  is  difficult.  These 
three  spheres  are  first,  space  perception;  second,  an  abstract 
system  of  logical  steps  constituting  proof;  and  third,  rules 
of  practical  procedure.  That  the  transition  from  one  sphere 
of  experience  to  the  other  is  a  new  mental  process  is  of  the 
first  importance  to  the  teacher  of  geometry.  The  teacher 
sees  now  that  knowledge  of  theory,  knowledge  of  the  prac- 
tical procedure,  and  direct  percepts  of  space  are  all  separate 
problems  to  be  worked  out ;  and,  furthermore,  he  sees  that 
the  student  must  be  trained  to  pass  from  one  to  the  other. 
Educational  methodology  has  long  recognized  that  there 
are  various  spheres  of  experience,  but  very  little  explicit 
attention  has  been  given  to  the  complete  enumeration  of 
these  or  to  carrying  the  student  from  one  sphere  to  the 
other.  The  student  is  supposed  to  gain  the  power  of  such 
transition  by  learning  demonstrations,  but  the  fact  is  that 
transitions  constitute  in  many  cases  the  most  confusing  and 
difficult  part  of  the  problem.  More  instructorial  energy 
should  be  devoted  to  training  students  in  these  transitions. 
There  should  be  a  conscious  effort  to  view  the  matter  from 
each  of  the  possible  points  of  view,  and  to  pass  from  one 
point  of  view  to  the  other  with  full  knowledge  of  the  reason 
for  the  transition.  Furthermore,  the  student  should  see 
that  the  fact  which  is  essential  for  demonstration  is  often 
very  different  from  the  point  of  highest  attention  to  the 
practical  operator  or  to  the  observer  of  space.  Oaly  through 
a  fuller  cultivation  of  all  of  these  methods  of  thought  can 
the  student  gain  the  advantages  which  come  from  each. 
So  long  as  he  is  rapid  and  skillful  only  in  one  mode  he 
will  be  limited  in  his  resources.  If  he  is  master  of  all  and 
can  use  all,  he  will  be  more  efficient. 


68    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

DANGER  OF  RELIANCE  ON  SOCIAL  AIDS 

A  number  of  minor  difficulties  appeared  during  the  lesson. 
Several  times  superficial  answers  were  given.  Thus,  in  the 
course  of  the  discussion  the  question  arose,  What  is  one  third 
of  360  degrees  ?  One  student  replied  successively  60,  90, 
180  degrees.  As  the  instructor  waited,  the  student  showed 
some  confusion,  and  finally  stopped  long  enough  to  get  the 
correct  120.  She  evidently  had  a  vague  notion  of  the  equal 
subdivisions  of  360  degrees,  and,  without  trying  to  be  spe- 
cific and  get  the  particular  division  needed,  tried  several  pos- 
sible answers,  depending  on  her  social  surroundings  to  check 
her  up.  This  use  of  social  checks  is  often  most  advantageous ; 
but  here  it  is  evidently  bad  for  the  student  that  she  could 
rely  on  the  instructor  to  correct  her  carelessness.  Her  social 
dependence  in  this  case  operated  to  make  her  mental  proc- 
esses vague  and  haphazard. 

PROBLEM  OF  DEALING  WITH  MISTAKES 

Another  example  of  vagueness  appeared  when  one  of 
the  students  was  asked  how  to  draw  a  tangent  at  a  point. 
He  directed  that  the  radius  touching  the  point  be  extended, 
and  then  directed  that  a  line  be  drawn  bisecting  this 
indefinitely  extended  radius.  He  probably  had  vaguely  in 
view  the  fact  that  a  perpendicular  can  be  erected  by  laying 
off  on  a  line  equal  distances  from  the  point  at  which  the 
perpendicular  is  to  be  erected;  but  he  continued  to  be  very 
vague  about  bisecting,  and  finally  the  class  moved  on, 
leaving  his  vagueness  forever  behind,  corrected  in  the  sense 
that  the  right  answer  was  given,  but  unconnected  in  the 
sense  that  the  impossibility  of  his  answer  was  never  fully 
explained.  Every  error  of  this  type  furnishes  an  educational 
opportunity  to  find  out  what  the  student  is  thinking  about 
and  lead  him  back  over  the  wrong  path  to  the  point  where 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     69 

he  can  take  a  right  start.  How  far  mistakes  ought  thus  to 
be  taken  seriously  is  hard  to  determine.  The  rights  of  the 
rest  of  the  class  must  be  considered.  The  student  whose 
vagueness  is  not  corrected  undoubtedly  suffers. 

ANALYSIS  CONTROLLED  THROUGH  RECENT  AND 
DIRECT  EXPERIENCE 

Students  evidently  do  not  use  the  general  demonstrations 
which  they  have  reached  with  any  degree  of  confidence ; 
they  go  back  to  the  simpler  and  more  fundamental  theorems. 
Thus  the  instructor  could  not  get  the  class  to  use  the  gen- 
eral theorems  proved  the  day  before.  They  insisted  on 
going  back  to  prove  that  the  sides  were  equal  because  the 
angles  were  equal.  The  interest  in  simple  fundamental 
theorems  undoubtedly  expresses  the  feeling  which  everyone 
has,  that  the  simpler  demonstrations  most  nearly  related  to 
direct  observations  are  more  reliable  than  proofs  dependent 
on  elaborate  demonstrations. 

At  one  point  in  the  exercise  the  class  had  been  dis- 
cussing the  relation  of  the  side  of  the  inscribed  square  to 
the  radius.  They  then  turned  to  the  circumscribed  square, 
and  the  question  arose  regarding  the  length  of  the  sides 
of  the  circumscribed  square.  The  discussion  which  followed 
showed  two  facts:  first,  the  size  of  the  circumscribed 
square  was  seen  directly  from  the  figure  long  before  the 
proof  of  its  size  could  be  given ;  and  second,  the  particular 
fact  which  was  observed  in  the  figure  was  the  length  of 
half  of  one  side  of  the  circumscribed  square.  This  concen- 
tration on  half  the  side  of  the  square  was  plainly  due  to 
the  preceding  discussion  of  the  radius,  for  the  relation  of 
the  whole  side  to  the  diameter  was  quite  as  obvious  from 
inspection  of  the  figure.  This  incident  illustrates  two  im- 
portant facts:  first,  geometry  even  at  this  advanced  stage 
uses  the  facts  of  space  perception  in  guiding  theory  and  in 


70    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

discovering  relations ;  and  second,  the  part  of  the  figure  on 
which  attention  was  last  concentrated  is  likely  to  be  the 
starting  point  of  the  next  step  in  observation  and  reasoning. 
The  first  fact  demonstrates  that  geometry  is  at  all  stages 
dependent  in  many  ways  on  perception ;  the  second  shows 
the  importance  of  preparation  as  a  stage  in  instruction. 

DIFFICULTIES  OF  ABSTRACTION 

In  marking  off  the  points  on  the  circumference  to  be 
used  in  constructing  the  hexagon,  the  student  began  with 
the  point  A.  The  instructor  tried  to  get  a  statement  of  the 
way  in  which  this  point  was  selected ;  and  after  some  per- 
sistence developed  the  correct  logical  statement  that  it  is 
"any  point."  The  student  had  difficulty  in  recognizing  the 
point  as  indefinite  in  its  location,  because  to  his  eye  and  mind 
it  was  a  very  definite  and  particular  point.  The  instructor 
straightened  the  matter  out  by  contrasting  A  with  B,  C,  etc. 
All  the  later  points  were  to  the  eye  equally  definite,  but 
the  student  was  led  to  see  that  B  was  definite  only  in  re- 
spect to  A.  When  he  got  back  to  A  he  could  not  get  it  from 
any  earlier  point,  and  so  saw  that  it  was  "  any  point."  Com- 
parison leads  to  knowledge  of  the  properties  of  a  point,  and 
shows  the  student  that  knowledge  of  properties  of  a  point 
is  very  different  from  direct  perception  of  the  point  itself. 

MEMORY  AS  A  FACTOR  IN  EDUCATION 

All  through  the  lesson  it  was  evident  that  the  students 
were  being  called  on  to  use  their  memories  and  to  select 
from  the  propositions  and  facts  stored  up  in  memory.  A 
chapter  could  be  written  on  this  aspect  of  the  lesson.  We 
have  of  late  come  to  regard  memory  work  in  the  schools 
as  something  unworthy  of  recognition  in  comparison  with 
reasoning  and  the  higher  thought-processes.  No  one  who 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     71 

gives  the  matter  any  serious  thought  can,  however,  fail  to 
recognize  the  fact  that  the  criticism  of  memory  is  not  based 
on  any  real  expectation  on  the  part  of  teachers  that 
students  will  be  able  to  carry  on  the  higher  processes 
without  an  appeal  to  memory.  Criticisms  of  memory  are 
directed  not  against  memory,  but  against  bad  forms  of 
remembering.  Again  and  again  the  members  of  the  class 
were  required  to  go  back  into  their  memories  and  select 
the  theorems  necessary  for  progress  in  the  demonstration 
in  hand.  Sometimes  they  offered  an  irrelevant  theorem. 
This  showed  lack  of  discrimination  hi  selection,  or  it  showed 
poverty  in  the  stock  of  ideas  from  which  the  selection 
could  be  made.  When  we  speak  of  working  out  a  demon- 
stration, it  is  evident  that  the  material  store4  in  memory 
must  be  in  form  to  permit  selection  and  rapid  review  for 
the  purpose  of  facilitating  selective  thought.  One  general 
principle  of  memory  which  immediately  suggests  itself  in 
terms  of  the  instructor's  questions  is  the  principle  of  arrange- 
ment. What  do  you  know  about  equilateral  triangles  ? 
What  do  you  know  about  lines  that  are  perpendicular  to 
parallel  lines  ?  These  are  examples  of  questions  which 
were  asked  with  a  view  to  helping  students  to  classify 
knowledge.  Furthermore,  the  classification  must  evidently 
not  be  too  rigid,  else  the  proposition  which  is  needed  now 
to  illuminate  the  discussion  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
size  of  angles  will  not  be  available  later  when  the  same 
fundamental  fact  is  needed  in  connection  with  the  dis- 
cussion of  areas.  Memory  must  therefore  contain  items 
classified  in  a  variety  of  ways.  When  the  student  goes 
back  into  his  store  of  experiences,  he  must  find  there  many 
propositions  ready  for  use  in  many  different  connections. 
To  such  a  flexible  memory  there  can  be  no  objection.  To 
a  well-ordered  body  of  knowledge,  especially  if  it  is  well- 
ordered  in  many  different  directions,  there  can  be  no  ob- 
jection. From  these  statements  of  what,  is  demanded  of 


72    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

memory  we  begin  to  see  how  memory  should  be  trained. 
If  one  wishes  to  have  his  students  flexible  and  ready  in 
ideas,  then  he  must  give  them  that  type  of  memory  train- 
ing which  will  make  them  both  ready  and  flexible.  The 
problem  of  modern  teaching  is  not  to  discard  memory,  but 
rather  to  train  the  powers  of  retention  and  recall  in  a  better 
way  than  formerly.  To  object  to  memory  is  very  short- 
sighted; to  improve  memory  is  rational. 

We  shall  come  back  to  this  problem  later.  It  is  enough 
to  point  out  here  that  ideas  must  be  put  into  the  mind 
with  their  possible  relationships  clearly  recognized  if  these 
relationships  are  at  some  later  day  to  be  used  productively 
in  calling  out  the  ideas.  It  is  therefore  important,  when  an 
idea  is  given,  so  to  store  it  up  in  the  mind  that  it  shall  be 
flexible  and  ready.  One  is  tempted  even  at  this  stage  of 
the  discussion  to  point  out  that  much  of  what  has  been 
said  about  the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline  has  been  utterly 
at  sea  because  it  has  not  been  based  on  this  conception  of 
the  way  in  which  ideas  ought  to  be  given.  If  ordinary  school 
training  does  not  transfer  from  one  field  of  experience  to 
another,  this  is  not  due  to  the  inability  of  the  human  mind 
to  transfer  its  training.  The  lack  of  transfer  is  in  many 
cases  due  to  the  clumsy,  stereotyped  way  in  which  ideas 
were  put  into  the  mind.  The  absence  of  general  ideas  and 
general  habits  of  thought  resulting  from  school  work  is 
due  to  p'oor  teaching  rather  than  to  any  limitations  of 
the  mind.  Knowledge  that  does  not  transfer  is  inflexible 
and  inert.  It  is  badly  remembered  and  was  badly  acquired. 
It  shows  that  the  mind  is  capable  of  taking  in  highly  spe- 
cialized ideas ;  it  does  not  show  that  the  mind  is  incapable 
of  generalized  experience,  for  generalization  is  seen  to  be 
dependent  on  the  arrangement  or  organization  of  experi- 
ences. This  matter  will  be  fully  discussed  in  a  later  chapter 
where  the  problem  of  organizing  all  experience  so  as  to 
facilitate  transfer  will  be  the  topic  under  discussion. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETEY     73 

REASONING  PROCESSES 

This  discussion  brings  us  to  a  consideration  of  the 
psychology  of  reasoning  processes.  Reasoning  is  the  re- 
arrangement and  recombination  of  ideas.  Reasoning  in- 
volves memory  and  classification  of  experiences  and  the 
combining  of  the  experiences  which  belong  together  in 
leading  to  a  definite  conclusion.  The  process  of  thus 
organizing  and  recombining  experiences  is  one  of  the  most 
important  and,  at  the  same  time,  one  of  the  most  baffling 
for  the  teacher  to  induce  in  a  student.  There  is  no  specific 
rule  which  can  be  followed  in  cultivating  the  reasoning 
powers.  The  various  facts  which  must  ultimately  be  fitted 
together  come  up  in  one  mind  in  one  order,  in  another 
mind  in  a  different  order.  Often  the  needed  fact  is  coupled 
in  memory  with  irrelevant  facts.  These  irrelevant  facts 
must  be  rejected,  and  the  useful  facts  must  be  recognized 
and  held  in  mind  until  the  whole  fabric  of  the  reasoning 
processes  is  woven  together  in  a  complex  pattern.  The 
teacher  must  stimulate  to  continued  effort,  must  guide  in 
the  selection  and  rejection  of  elements,  must  point  out 
that  the  selection  of  elements  depends  on  the  end  sought. 
The  end  must  be  anticipated  in  general  before  it  is  reached 
hi  particular.  This  must  all  be  done  in  such  a  way  as  to 
keep  the  student  active  and,  so  far  as  possible,  free  from 
dependence  on  the  teacher  and  on  other  members  of 
the  class. 

Such  a  description  of  reasoning  leaves  one  with  only 
general  maxims  such  as  the  following:  First  try  to  fore- 
see in  a  general  way  what  end  you  want  to  reach.  Next 
marshal  all  the  facts  you  can  find  which  are  related  to  this 
end.  Then  arrange  these  facts  in  a  progressive  series.  Such 
maxims  describe  what  may  very  properly  be  called  the 
general  problem  of  the  teacher.  They  also  describe  certain 
general  mental  habits  and  attitudes. 


74    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

GENERAL  PSYCHOLOGICAL  PROBLEMS 

We  may  close  our  comments  on  class  observation  by 
noting  that  there  are  certain  general  psychological  princi- 
ples suggested  by  a  visit  to  any  class.  The  individuals  in 
the  class  show  marked  individual  mental  and  social  charac- 
teristics. One  student  is  aggressive  and  talkative,  inter- 
rupting on  the  slightest  provocation,  full  of  energy  and 
ready  to  attack  any  problem ;  another  is  quiet,  undemon- 
strative, shy,  and  embarrassed. 

Again,  the  relation  of  the  teacher  to  the  students  is  dis- 
tinctly a  psychological  problem.  Students  and  teachers  alike 
are  absorbed  in  certain  reasoning  processes ;  they  are  all  in 
the  midst  of  psychological  situations  which  are  of  great  inter- 
est to  the  student  of  psychology,  but  which  are  viewed  by  the 
active  participants  in  these  processes  from  a  wholly  unpsy- 
chological  point  of  view.  The  teacher  will  realize  how  direct 
and  personal  and  unpsychological  he  usually  is  by  undertak- 
ing, at  some  time  when  he  is  not  absorbed  in  teaching,  to 
make  psychological  studies  of  his  students  and  their  mental 
processes.  When  he  is  teaching,  there  is  less  opportunity  to 
give  attention  to  both  the  content  of  the  discussion  and  the 
psychology  of  the  student's  difficulties.  Later,  after  he  has 
studied  the  psychology  of  the  situation,  he  will  be  able  to  find 
in  every  class  exercise  opportunity  to  apply  his  discoveries. 

There  is,  finally,  the  general  emotional  situation  as  it 
changes  from  moment  to  moment.  The  class  and  teacher 
in  sympathy  working  together ;  the  single  student  confused 
and  unable  to  reason  because  he  has  made  a  mistake  and  is 
being  laughed  at,  and,  consequently,  is  more  acutely  aware 
of  the  other  members  of  the  class  than  he  should  be ;  the 
egotistical  member  of  the  class  who  prefers  to  hear  himself 
rather  than  wait  for  ideas  to  justify  speech  —  all  these  are 
interesting  psychological  problems,  but  they  are  general, 
and  not  especially  appropriate  to  an  analysis  of  geometry. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     75 

THE  THEORY  OF  TEACHING  MATHEMATICS 

From  observations  of  students  we  turn  to  books  on  the 
methods  of  teaching  geometry.  Some  of  these  books  are 
written  without  any  attempt  to  deal  with  the  psychology 
of  the  situation ;  others  are  full  of  psychological  statements. 
For  the  purposes  of  our  study  we  may  refer  to  two  books: 
one  nonpsychological,  the  other  very  largely  colored  by 
psychological  interests  and  discussions.  Let  the  reader  try 
the  experiment  of  going  over  one  of  these  books  with  a 
view  to  raising  explicitly  all  the  psychological  questions 
that  are  referred  to  or  implied  in  the  text.  Frequently  the 
author  will  suggest  interesting  psychological  problems 
and  discussions  even  when  the  treatment  in  the  book  is 
wholly  unpsychological. 

j  SCHULTZE  ON  MEMORY 

Let  us  consider  first  a  passage  from  Schultze's  "  Teach- 
ing of  Mathematics  in  Secondary  Schools"1  (pp.  10-11),  in 
which  the  author  deals  with  matters  which  are  evidently 
psychological. 

In  the  preceding  paragraph  it  was  pointed  out  that  mechan- 
ical memorizing  is  a  perfectly  proper  method  of  studying  the 
most  elementary,  the  most  fundamental  facts,  which  are  of  fre- 
quent application.  This  is  possibly  the  reason  why  the  teach- 
ing is  far  more  effective  in  the  lower  grades  than  later  on.  In 
more  advanced  work  the  very  nature  of  the  subjects  makes 
mere  memorizing  ineffective. 

Our  high  schools,  however,  not  only  encourage  memorizing, 
but  sometimes  almost  force  the  student  to  adopt  this  as  the 
only  mode  of  study,  for  only  by  memorizing  can  he  hope  to 
satisfy  the  immediate  demands  of  the  school. 

The  daily  rations  of  mental  food  that  the  student  has  to 
swallow  give  him  no  choice ;  there  is  no  tune  for  thought,  for 

1  Published  by  The  Macmillan  Company,  1912. 


76     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

meditation,  for  judicious  study ;  he  must  memorize.  Moreover, 
the  character  of  the  studies  leads  him  to  mechanical  work,  for 
in  spite  of  the  vigorous  denials  of  our  pedagogues,  the  greater 
part  of  the  curriculum  is  informational.  It  is  knowledge  and 
not  power  that  is  emphasized  in  most  of  the  studies,  and  even 
subjects  which  by  their  very  nature  should  be  mastered  by 
thinking  are  often  made  informational.  For  the  informational 
method  produces  much  quicker  and  more  spectacular  results 
than  the  slow  judicious  mode  of  study.  What  a  fine  display  of 
learning  students  can  make  if  they  have  been  cramming  con- 
scientiously !  How  high  the  percentage  they  can  secure  in  ex- 
aminations !  True,  the  after  effects  are  sad,  but  who  cares  ? 
As  long  as  the  boy  can  talk  glibly  about  complex  economic 
problems  in  terms  which  he  does  not  understand,  we  are  satis- 
fied. What  does  it  matter,  that  a  year  later  he  has  not  the 
remotest  inkling  of  the  subject,  that  he  cannot  discuss  intelli- 
gently the  simplest  new  problem  that  may  arise ! 

Can  we  wonder  that  under  such  conditions  the  student  never 
breaks  away  from  his  mechanical  way  of  studying  that  he  ac- 
quired in  the  elementary  school  ?  And  can  we  wonder,  too,  that 
the  results  of  our  teaching  become  inferior  in  the  higher  grades 
of  the  grammar  school,  and  especially  so  in  the  high  school  ? 

As  one  reads  such  a  criticism  of  the  schools  he  cannot 
help  wishing  that  the  author  had  been  more  explicit  about 
the  meaning  of  the  term  "  mechanical  memorizing."  Just 
how  does  this  differ  in  character  from  nonmechanical  ? 
And  how  far  does  the  "  slow  judicious  mode  of  study  "  in- 
volve memory  ?  Surely  a  student  who  does  not  know  the 
theorems  he  has  passed  over  will  be  slow  indeed,  and  prob- 
ably far  from  judicious  in  his  thinking.  Is  it  true  that  ele- 
mentary education  is  made  up  of  memorizing?  It  is  a 
common  habit  of  high-school  teachers  without  very  much 
knowledge  of  the  real  conditions  in  elementary  schools  to 
give  liberally  of  their  advice  about  what  is  and  ought  to 
be  the  task  of  the  lower  schools.  If  our  author  would  talk 
over  this  matter  with  some  good  elementary  teacher,  he 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETEY     77 

would  find  that  the  elementary  teachers  have  the  same 
problem  that  he  has.  What  does  anyone  mean  when  he  says 
that  most  of  the  curriculum  is  informational  ?  Has  our 
author  measured  the  amount  of  time  devoted  in  most 
schools  to  such  noninformational  studies  as  drill  in  lan- 
guage and  to  exercises  in  writing  and  speaking  ?  Probably 
not;  for  if  he  had,  he  would  hardly  have  made  the  statement 
which  he  makes.  In  short,  our  author  does  not  contribute 
any  very  clear  ideas  on  the  value  of  memory  in  geometry 
and  algebra,  We  should  be  left  in  a  bad  plight  if  we  had 
nothing  but  the  prejudice  against  memory  which  this  pas- 
sage is  calculated  to  foster.  Indeed,  our  author  is  himself 
so  prejudiced  against  memory  that  he  writes  (p.  18), 
"  The  principal  value  of  mathematical  studies  arises  from  the 
facts  that  it  exercises  the  reasoning  power  more,  and  claims 
from  the  memory  less  than  any  other  secondary  school  sub- 
ject." The  trouble  is  that  he  has  got  his  mind  fixed  on  a  con- 
trast between  two  processes,  namely  reasoning  and  memory, 
which  are  psychologically  not  opposed  to  each  other  at  all. 

SCHULTZE  ON  AXIOMS  AND  POSTULATES 

Another  discussion  by  the  same  author  relates  to  the 
difficulty  of  introducing  the  work  without  confusing  the 
student  by  elaborate  proofs  and  discussions  which  seem  to 
him  unnecessary  and  cumbersome  (pp.  88-89). 

The  most  fundamental  propositions  in  geometry,  such  as 
"  straight  angles  are  equal "  or  "  the  complements  of  equal 
angles  are  equal,"  are  frequently  designated  preliminary 
propositions.  These  preliminary  propositions  have  certain 
peculiarities  which  make  them  less  adapted  to  produce  an 
understanding  of  geometry  than  are  the  theorems  that  follow. 

In  the  first  place,  these  propositions  state  facts  which  are 
so  self-evident  that  the  beginner  does  not  see  the  necessity  of 
proving  them.  That  right  angles  are  equal,  or  that  only  one 


78    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

perpendicular  to  a  given  line  can  be  drawn  at  a  given  point, 
are  facts  so  obvious  that  their  certainty  does  not  appear  to 
become  greater  by  demonstrations  of  any  sort. 

In  the  second  place,  proofs  of  exceedingly  simple  facts  are 
often  difficult,  and  hence  it  is  not  surprising  that  many  of  the 
demonstrations  given  for  the  preliminary  propositions  are  not 
the  same  simple  deductions  that  are  usually  employed  in  geom- 
etry, but  rather  artificial  devices.  To  the  beginner  such  proofs 
frequently  appear  as  unintelligible,  complicated  statements,  the 
truth  of  which  is  far  more  doubtful  than  that  of  the  theorems 
to  be  proved. 

Although  absolute  rigor  is  utterly  unattainable  when  present- 
ing this  subject  in  a  secondary  school,  many  textbooks  sacrifice 
pedagogic  considerations  in  the  attempt  to  present  the  prelim- 
inary propositions  rigorously.  Whether  or  not  the  student  can 
fully  comprehend  the  presentation  seems  to  be  a  matter  of 
minor  importance  with  some  authors.  "  We  must  have  rigor, 
absolute  exactness,  training  in  logic  from  the  first  day  on, 
otherwise,"  so  these  dogmatists  claim,  "  the  student  will  be 
hopelessly  led  into  the  habit  of  slipshod  thinking  from  which 
no  further  training  can  redeem  him."  This  striving  for  rigor 
is  undoubtedly  responsible  for  the  highly  artificial  character 
and  the  complexity  of  the  preliminary  propositions  as  given 
in  a  great  many  textbooks. 

The  psychology  of  this  difficulty  certainly  calls  for  earnest 
attention  on  the  part  of  teachers.  Plow  can  a  matter  be 
clear,  and  yet  difficult  to  translate  into  a  train  of  logical 
reasoning  ?  The  answer  offered  in  an  earlier  paragraph  of 
this  chapter  (p.  60)  is  that  we  are  here  dealing  with  two 
spheres  of  experience.  Transition  from  one  to  the  other  is 
the  real  difficulty.  If  this  answer  is  not  acceptable,  then  it 
devolves  upon  someone  to  go  further,  because  the  problem 
is  an  urgent  one  for  the  teacher.  Indeed,  the  problem  here 
presented  raises  the  interesting  question  whether  geometry 
of  a  simple  type  ought  not  to  be  given  in  the  elementary 
schools  where  the  simpler  and  less  rigorous  types  of  thought 
are  recognized  as  more  at  home. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     79 

SCHULTZE  ON  IMAGERY 

Another  psychological  problem  which  our  author  presents 
is  that  of  imagery  (pp.  266-268)  : 

The  study  of  solid  geometry  strengthens  the  student's  space 
imagination  and  his  power  to  image  space  configurations,  and 
it  gives  him  an  understanding  for  drawings  that  represent 
spatial  objects. 

Altogether  it  seems  that  the  utilitarian  advantages  are  some- 
what greater,  but  the  purely  cultural  advantages  somewhat 
smaller,  than  in  plane  geometry. 

With  such  restrictions  the  study  of  solid  geometry  will  not 
offer  great  difficulty  to  the  student.  It  may  require  a  little 
more  time  and  a  little  more  study,  but  it  does  not  require  more 
intelligence  than  does  plane  geometry. 

One  difficulty,  however,  against  which  we  must  guard  and 
which  we  must  overcome  at  the  very  start  is  the  inability  of 
some  students  to  understand  diagrams  of  solids.  There  are 
students  who  are  able  to  reason  logically,  but  who  cannot  imag- 
ine clearly  the  spatial  forms  which  the  diagrams  represent. 
There  are  two  ways  of  overcoming  this  difficulty,  namely,  the 
use  of  models  and  rational  methods  of  drawing. 

The  function  of  the  model  is  to  help  the  student  in  the 
beginning  to  an  understanding  of  solid  figures  in  general,  and 
to  make  clear  to  him,  later  on,  difficult  drawings  which  other- 
wise he  would  not  understand.  The  model  should,  however, 
not  be  used  to  supplant  the  drawing.  As  soon  as  the  student 
is  able  to  understand  the  drawings,  the  models  should  be  dis- 
carded or  reserved  for  the  most  difficult  cases  only.  Otherwise 
the  student  will  lose  one  of  the  main  benefits  of  the  study, 
namely,  the  development  of  his  space  imagination  and  of  his 
faculty  to  understand  diagrams  of  solids. 

There  are  other  passages,  of  like  import,  which  cannot  be 
quoted  in  full.  These  all  raise  at  once  —  and  in  a  very  vivid 
way  —  the  question  of  imagery.  How  does  imagery  differ 
from  reasoning  ?  Why  is  it  more  difficult  to  imagine  solid 
figures  than  to  imagine  plane  ?  Is  it  true  that  one  of  the 


80    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

functions  of  geometry  as  taught  in  the  schools  is  to  culti- 
vate the  power  of  imagery  ?  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
the  experience  of  schools  shows  that  students  are  deficient. 
Why  should  we  be  more  deficient  in  this  matter  than  the 
Greeks  or  the  Japanese  ?  Is  it  not  because  the  school  has 
left  space  to  develop  as  best  it  can  in  the  mind  of  the  stu- 
dent without  the  legitimate  help  which  would  come  from 
instruction  hi  spatial  relations  all  through  the  period  of 
education  prior  to  that  in  which  the  student  encounters 
high-school  geometry?  If  so  fundamental  a  power  as  the 
interpretation  of  a  drawing  of  a  solid  is  lacking  in  high- 
school  students,  is  it  probable,  in  the  light  of  experience, 
that  a  course  in  demonstrative  geometry  administered  in  the 
high  school  will  cure  the  difficulty  ?  Is  it  not  rather  the  duty 
of  the  school  to  put  into  the  elementary  course  at  an  early 
point  some  constructive  geometry  ?  Indeed,  it  seems  very 
clear  to  the  unbiased  student  that  it  is  to  the  interest  of 
the  geometrician  himself  that  he  be  persuaded  to  look  about 
for  ways  of  cultivating  space  imagery  which  are  more  effi- 
cient than  those  afforded  in  the  logical  courses  now  offered 
in  demonstrative  geometry. 

SCHULTZE  ON  FORMAL  DISCIPLINE 

One  problem  which  always  turns  up  in  educational  dis- 
cussions is,  the  problem  of  mental  discipline.  Thus,  our 
author  writes : l 

Some  psychologists  claim  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
general  mental  discipline,  that  the  disciplinary  value  pertains 
only  to  the  subject  studied,  or  to  one  of  similar  content,  and 
that  consequently  mathematical  study  increases  the  reasoning 
power  for  mathematics  only. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  there  is  a  little  truth  in  the  first 
part  of  this  assertion,  and  that  this  theory  has  produced  some 

1  Schultze,  pp.  24-26. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     81 

reaction  against  the  practice  of  defending  any  pedagogical 
absurdity  on  grounds  of  "  mental  discipline."  But  on  the  other 
hand  there  is  a  tendency  among  the  sensational  pedagogues 
to  exaggerate  and  to  generalize  too  sweepingly.  Pedagogy  and 
psychology  are  not  exact  sciences.  Their  results  are  only 
approximately  true,  and  cannot  be  applied  in  the  same  rigorous 
fashion  as  those  of  mathematics  or  physics.  If  we  attempt  to 
apply  them  to  complex  problems,  the  limits  of  error  are  likely 
to  become  so  large  as  to  invalidate  the  entire  results.  Conclu- 
sions reached  by  such  methods  need  constant  verification,  and 
must  be  modified  if  found  to  be  contradictory  to  experience. 

Precisely  this  thing  happens  in  this  widely  advertised  disci- 
pline theory  when  we  apply  it  to  mathematical  teaching.  Every 
mathematical  teacher  of  experience  has  seen  cases  which  dis- 
prove this  theory.  It  is  a  common  experience  to  see  a  pupil  in  the 
upper  grades  suddenly  wake  up  to  the  meaning  of  mathematics, 
and  thereby  change  his  attitude  towards  study  in  general. 

On  the  matter  here  discussed  we  shall  later  enlarge  in  a 
full  chapter  devoted  to  a  review  of  recent  discussions  of 
formal  discipline. 

SMITH  ON  FORMAL  DISCIPLINE 

The  importance  of  a  rediscussion  of  the  whole  matter 
will  be  obvious  when  we  put  together  two  quotations  from 
another  leading  author : l 

There  have  been  those  who  did  not  proclaim  the  utilitarian 
value  of  geometry,  but  who  fell  into  as  serious  an  error, 
namely,  the  advocating  of  geometry  as  a  means  of  training 
the  memory.  In  times  not  so  very  far  past,  and  to  some  extent 
to-day,  the  memorizing  of  proofs  has  been  justified  on  this 
ground.  This  error  has,  however,  been  fully  exposed  by  our 
modern  psychologists.  They  have  shown  that  the  person  who 
memorizes  the  propositions  of  Euclid  by  number  is  no  more 
capable  of  memorizing  other  facts  than  he  was  before,  and 

1  David  E.  Smith,  The  Teaching  of  Geometry,  p.  12.  Ginn  and  Com- 
pany, 1911. 


82    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

that  the  learning  of  proofs  verbatim  is  of  no  assistance  what- 
ever in  retaining  matter  that  is  helpful  in  other  lines  of  work. 
Geometry,  therefore,  as  a  training  of  the  memory  is  of  no  more 
value  than  any  other  subject  in  the  curriculum. 

A  few  pages  later  the  same  author  holds  that  logical 
training  will  carry  over  (p.  17). 

In  spite  of  the  results  of  the  very  meager  experiments  of 
the  psychologists,  it  is  probable  that  the  man  who  has  had 
some  drill  in  syllogisms,  and  who  has  learned  to  select  the 
essentials  and  to  neglect  the  nonessentials  in  reaching  his  con- 
clusions, has  acquired  habits  in  reasoning  that  will  help  him  in 
every  line  of  work. 

SCHULTZE  ON  COMPARATIVE  DIFFICULTY  OF  ALGEBRA 
AND  GEOMETRY 

Another  problem  on  which  every  writer  expresses  himself 
is  the  character  and  difficulty  of  algebra  as  compared  with 
geometry.  The  following  quotations  refer  to  this  problem.1 

The  selection  of  the  subject-matter  for  courses  in  elementary 
algebra  must  largely  depend  upon  the  educational  advantages 
of  the  subject,  which  are  not  absolutely  identical  with  those  of 
geometry.  Algebra  requires  the  same  accuracy  of  thinking, 
and  the  same,  or  possibly  greater  accuracy  of  detail  than  geome- 
try. It  may  be  graded  as  perfectly,  and  its  introductory  chapters 
may  be  made  even  simpler  than  those  of  geometry.  The  defi- 
niteness  of  the  task  given  to  the  student,  the  certainty  of  the 
results,  and  the  applicability  of  many  of  its  topics  to  scientific 
or  other  problems  are  precisely  the  same  as  in  geometry. 

On  the  other  hand,  algebra  does  not  require  as  much  reason- 
ing, and  this  reasoning  is  not  always  of  the  same  high  order  as 
geometry.  The  amount  of  information  cannot  be  reduced  quite 
as  much  as  in  geometry,  and  some  topics  in  algebra  require  a 
certain  amount  of  mechanical  drill.  Hence,  ingenuity  and 
originality  of  thinking  do  not  play  quite  the  same  role,  and  the 

1  Schultze,  pp.  288-289. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     83 

knowledge  of  facts  is  somewhat  more  important  than  in  geom- 
etry. Moreover,  algebra  lends  itself  rather  readily  to  a  purely 
mechanical  treatment.  Students  may  add  exponents,  transpose 
terms,  and  perform  other  manipulations  without  having  a  clear 
notion  of  the  meaning  of  these  operations,  and  the  symbols 
involved. 

Thus,  while  possessing  most  of  the  advantages  of  other 
mathematical  branches,  algebra  has  certain  drawbacks,  and  the 
courses  of  study  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  eliminate  or  to 
minimize  these  disadvantages. 

This  passage  raises  a  whole  series  of  psychological  prob- 
lems with  which  we  shall  have  to  deal  when  we  have  made 
an  analysis  of  algebra.  In  the  meantime  we  may  quote 
once  more  from  Professor  Smith1  on  the  same  topic. 

SMITH  ON  THE  RELATIVE  DIFFICULTY  OF  ALGEBRA 
AND  GEOMETRY 

The  child  studies  form  in  the  kindergarten  before  he  studies 
number,  and  this  is  sound  educational  policy.  He  studies  form, 
in  mensuration,  throughout  his  course  in  arithmetic,  and  this, 
too,  is  good  educational  policy.  This  kind  of  geometry  very 
properly  precedes  algebra.  But  the  demonstrations  of  geometry, 
the  study  by  pupils  of  fourteen  years  of  a  geometry  that  was 
written  for  college  students  and  always  studied  by  them  until 
about  fifty  years  ago, — that  is  by  no  means  as  easy  as  the  study 
of  a  simple  algebraic  symbolism  and  its  application  to  easy 
equations.  If  geometry  is  to  be  taught  for  the  same  reason  as 
at  present,  it  cannot  advantageously  be  taught  earlier  than  now 
without  much  simplification,  and  it  cannot  successfully  be  fused 
with  algebra  save  by  some  teacher  who  is  willing  to  sacrifice 
an  undue  amount  of  energy  to  no  really  worthy  purpose. 

This  paragraph  suggests  a  number  of  interesting  psycho- 
logical questions.  Why  should  different  stages  of  the  study 
of  space  be  separated  as  they  now  are  ?  Why  should  the 
study  of  geometry  continue  in  its  present  form  ? 

1  The  Teaching  of  Geometry,  p.  88. 


84    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

If  there  are  various  kinds  of  geometry,  then  the  limits  of 
each  are  certainly  worthy  of  definition.  How  far  should  direct 
space  perception  appear  in  the  later  studies  of  geometrical 
propositions,  as  well  as  in  the  elementary  studies  ?  Suppose 
that  we  find  the  studies  of  mensuration  made  in  arithmetic 
by  the  ordinary  elementary-school  child  to  be  quite  as  ab- 
stract as  the  theorems  in  geometry;  will  this  justify  our 
taking  a  different  attitude  than  that  announced  in  the  para- 
graph ?  Why  should  geometry  not  be  simplified  ?  Is  algebra 
made  up  of  "  simple  symbolism  "  and  "  easy  equations  "  ? 

SMITH  ON  THE  APPLICATION  OF  GEOMETRY 

As  pointed  out  in  the  introductory  discussion  in  Chap- 
ter II,  geometry  and  its  applications  are  different.  The  psy- 
chology of  applications  is  a  topic  which  will  naturally  come 
up  again  in  discussing  the  technical  subjects.  We  shall  not 
be  able  to  enter  into  a  complete  discussion  of  the  matter  in 
this  connection,  but  there  is  a  good  opportunity  here  to  get 
the  problem  clearly  before  us. 

In  his  second  chapter  and  throughout  the  book  Profes- 
sor Smith  discusses  the  problem  of  the  practical  application 
of  geometry.  He  points  out  that  in  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries  (p.  10)  there  were  large  numbers  of  treatises 
published  on  the  subject  of  practical  geometry.  On  page  11 
he  reaches  the  following  conclusion : 

Out  of  all  this  effort  some  genuine  good  remains,  but  rela- 
tively not  very  much.  And  so  it  will  be  with  the  present 
movement  [that  is,  the  movement  in  the  direction  of  applied 
geometry]  ;  it  will  serve  its  greatest  purpose  in  making  teachers 
think  and  read,  and  in  adding  to  their  interest  and  enthusiasm 
and  to  the  interest  of  their  pupils ;  but  it  will  not  greatly 
change  geometry,  because  no  serious  person  ever  believed  that 
geometry  was  taught  chiefly  for  practical  purposes,  or  was  made 
more  interesting  or  valuable  through  such  a  pretense. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     85 

A  further  passage  dealing  with  the  same  topic  appears 
on  page  74. 

And  as  to  the  exercises,  what  is  the  basis  of  selection  ?  In 
general,  let  it  be  said  that  any  exercise  that  pretends  to  be  real 
should  be  so,  and  that  words  taken  from  science  or  measure- 
ments do  not  necessarily  make  the  problem  genuine.  To  take 
a  proposition  and  apply  it  in  a  manner  that  the  world  never 
sanctions  is  to  indulge  in  deceit.  On  the  other  hand,  wholly  to 
neglect  the  common  applications  of  geometry  to  handwork  of 
various  kinds  is  to  miss  one  of  our  great  opportunities  to  make 
the  subject  vital  to  the  pupil,  to  arouse  new  interest,  and  to 
give  a  meaning  to  it  that  is  otherwise  wanting.  It  should  always 
be  remembered  that  mental  discipline,  whatever  the  phrase  may 
mean,  can  as  readily  be  obtained  from  a  genuine  application 
of  a  theorem  as  from  a  mere  geometric  puzzle.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  evident  that  not  more  than  25  per. cent  of  proposi- 
tions have  any  genuine  applications  outside  of  geometry,  and 
that  if  we  are  to  attempt  any  applications  at  all,  these  must  be 
sought  mainly  in  the  field  of  pure  geometry.  In  the  exercises, 
therefore,  we  seek  to-day  a  sane  and  a  balanced  book,  giving 
equal  weight  to  theory  and  to  practice,  to  the  demands  of  the 
artisan  and  to  those  of  the  mathematician,  to  the  applications 
of  concrete  science  and  to  those  of  pure  geometry,  thus  making 
a  fusion  of  pure  and  applied  mathematics,  with  the  latter  as 
prominent  as  the  supply  of  genuine  problems  permits. 

In  drawing  this  contrast  Professor  Smith  has  done  us 
the  great  service  of  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
mental  processes  involved  in  applications  of  geometry  are 
different  from  the  mental  processes  aroused  during  the  dem- 
onstration of  theorems.  If  we  recognize  clearly  this  conclu- 
sion, we  shall  see  the  necessity  of  studying  the  processes  of 
application  in  order  that  we  may  train  them  and  in  order 
that  we  may  understand  their  value.  The-  assumption  of 
the  school  in  times  past  has  been  that  students  will  work 
out  the  applications  of  the  theories  which  they  learn  in 
school  in  a  natural  and  spontaneous  way.  There  is  of 


86    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

course,  in  practical  life,  little  justification  for  the  pious  hope 
that  applications  of  science  will  take  care  of  themselves. 
There  is  ample  evidence  that  a  student  must  be  shown  how 
to  use  his  mental  equipment  before  it  becomes  available  in 
circumstances  other  than  those  in  which  it  was  acquired. 

Let  us  assume  that  some  of  the  applications  found  in 
the  school  are  artificial  in  character.  Is  it  not  true  that 
any  general  scheme  of  education  is  in  this  sense  relatively 
artificial?  Is  not  the  whole  period  of  dependent,  unpro- 
ductive childhood  and  youth  a  relatively  artificial  period  ? 
It  may  be  said  that  the  child  who  imitates  his  elders  in  a 
game  is  doing  something  that  is  highly  artificial ;  the  girl 
with  her  dolls  or  the  boy  with  his  carpenter's  tools  is  cer- 
tainly not  making  an  application  of  his  powers  to  any  situ- 
ation which  can  be  thought  of  as  productive.  But  this  very 
artificial  opportunity  of  employing  one's  powers  is  of  the 
greatest  advantage  to  the  child ;  it  is  the  purpose  of  nature 
during  this  period  of  dependency  to  furnish  the  child  with 
leisure  to  experiment.  There  is  no  better  exercise  for  the 
memory  and  no  better  exercise  for  the  growing  mind  than 
to  set  up  some  kind  of  situation  and  face  it  with  a  view  to 
solving  its  difficulties  —  not  because  the  solution  is  going 
to  be  marketable  or  because  it  is  going  to  modify  the  real 
world  of  affairs,  but  because  it  is  going  to  give  the  individual 
poise  and  new  equipment  and  new  ability  to  carry  over 
what  he  has  acquired  in  one  field  into  another  situation 
which  does  not  contain  the  elements  of  the  original  situation. 
Such  an  artificial  situation  trains  one's  knowledge  and  skill. 

One  reads  hi  the  educational  literature  of  the  day  the 
statement  that  the  school  should  be  a  real  world.  One 
reads  that  the  child  will  not  attack  the  problems  of  the 
school  with  any  enthusiasm  unless  the  school  can  be  made 
as  real  as  the  business  world  is  for  an  adult.  The  answer 
to  many  of  these  statements  is  that  the  world  of  action  is 
real  even  when  situations  are  merely  imagined  situations. 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETRY     87 

In  order  to  be  real,  a  situation  does  not  need  to  be  produc- 
tive for  society;  it  does  not  need  to  modify  the  physical 
world  in  any  definite  way.  The  situation  is  real  if  it  calls 
for  a  mental  adjustment  on  the  part  of  the  child  or  a 
conscious  readjustment  of  his  behavior.  In  this  sense  the 
applications  of  geometry  to  relatively  artificial  situations 
may  be  immensely  real  for  the  student  who  is  working 
them  out,  although  from  the  point  of  view  of  adult  society 
they  may  be  very  artificial  and  insignificant. 

It  is  enough  for  our  present  purpose  if  the  problem  is 
clearly  before  us.  The  solution  of  the  problem  must  be 
sought  in  connection  with  the  discussion  of  the  place  of 
the  practical  arts  in  school  work. 

SMITH  ON  THE  REASONS  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF  GEOMETRY 

One  final  quotation  from  Professor  Smith  suggests  an 
interesting  psychological  problem.  On  page  15  he  con- 
cludes his  discussion  of  the  reasons  why  we  teach  and 
study  geometry  with  the  following : 

Probably  the  primary  reason,  if  we  do  not  attempt  to  deceive 
ourselves,  is  pleasure.  We  study  music  because  music  gives 
us  pleasure,  not  necessarily  our  own  music,  but  good  music, 
whether  ours,  or,  as  is  more  probable,  that  of  others.  We 
study  literature  because  we  derive  pleasure  from  books  .... 
At  any  rate,  these  are  the  nobler  reasons  for  their  study. 

So  it  is  with  geometry.  We  study  it  because  we  derive 
pleasure  from  contact  with  a  great  and  ancient  body  of  learn- 
ing that  has  occupied  the  attention  of  master  minds  during 
the  thousands  of  years  in  which  it  has  been  perfected,  and  we 
are  uplifted  by  it. 

The  student  of  psychology  is  instantly  struck  by  the  fact 
that  Professor  Smith's  argument  at  this  point  is  by  no  means 
fundamental.  He  does  not  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  matter 
when  he  says  that  we  derive  pleasure  from  this  sort  of 
study.  Pleasure  itself  is  an  experience  which  needs  some 


88    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

explanation.  There  are  as  many  different  kinds  of  pleasure 
as  there  are  different  types  of  mental  attitudes.  If  geom- 
etry gives  pleasure,  this  result  must  be  due  to  the  fact  that 
in  some  fashion  or  other  geometry  sets  up  forms  of  behavior 
and  forms  of  mental  activity  that  are  in  keeping  with  the 
demands  of  the  individual's  nature.  No  form  of  experience 
is  pleasurable  unless  it  is  in  some  fundamental  way  in  keep- 
ing with  the  demands  of  the  individual.  Therefore,  when 
our  author  states  that  we  derive  pleasure  from  geometry, 
he  gives  a  descriptive  account  of  the  situation  and  not  an 
explanation  of  it.  To  offer  pleasure  as  the  prime  reason 
for  the  study  of  geometry  is  to  take  only  one  step  in  the 
direction  of  a  real  explanation. 

Suppose,  for  example,  that  we  try  two  or  three  of  the 
different  hypotheses  that  might  be  suggested  as  back  of 
Professor  Smith's  statement.  Thus  we  might  hold  with 
certain  metaphysicians  that  geometry  gives  pleasure  be- 
cause in  this  sphere  the  mind  is  operating  in  a  world  of  its 
own  creation.  Geometry  is  nothing  but  a  creation  of  one's 
own  consciousness,  and  consequently  geometry  is  more  fully 
and  satisfactorily  understood  than  any  other  system  of  ex- 
perience. Geometry  therefore  gives  the  mind  an  opportu- 
nity to  work  over  with  pleasure  its  own  creations. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  may  turn  to  an  entirely  different 
interpretation  of  the  situation.  We  may  say  that  geometry 
is  a  more  concrete  subject  than  most  of  the  others  offered 
in  the  course  of  study.  The  student  can  see  his  sensory 
experiences  unite  in  a  well-organized  and  connected  system. 
Thus,  for  example,  when  one  tries  to  find  out  the  sum  of  the 
angles  of  a  triangle,  he  is  not  at  liberty  to  modify  the  real, 
objective  facts  in  any  particular,  and  the  more  he  experi- 
ments with  these  facts,  the  more  stubbornly  concrete  they 
become,  while  at  the  same  time  the  more  thoroughly  reli- 
able they  are  to  his  thinking.  After  he  has  experimented 
with  five  triangles  he  can  go  on  to  fifty  or  five  hundred, 


PSYCHOLOGICAL  ANALYSIS  OF  GEOMETEY     89 

and  he  will  always  find  that  the  result  is  the  same  with  re- 
gard to  the  sum  of  the  angles.  Experience  of  this  type  is 
very  concrete  and  objective ;  and  the  high  degree  of  satis- 
faction which  the  student  derives  from  this  contact  with  a 
series  of  experiences  which  are  uniform  is  the  satisfaction 
which  comes  from  a  definite  understanding  of  the  real  world. 

Both  of  these  statements  would  comport  with  Professor 
Smith's  statement  regarding  pleasure,  and  yet  they  are  fun- 
damentally opposed  in  their  teachings  regarding  the  nature 
of  geometry.  The  problem  of  why  geometry  gives  pleasure 
is  therefore  a  deeper  problem  than  the  mere  assertion  of  the 
fact.  Furthermore,  there  are  many  known  cases  where  the 
study  of  geometry  does  not  give  pleasure  to  the  student. 
The  problem  of  how  to  produce  a  readjustment  in  such 
cases  is  a  very  urgent  human  problem.  We  shall  certainly 
need  to  inquire,  in  such  negative  cases,  what  is  the  psy- 
chological character  of  pleasure,  and  what  the  possibility  of 
so  readjusting  the  situation  as  to  produce  pleasure  through 
the  study  of  geometry.  Suppose  we  tell  students  that  they 
will  ultimately  derive  pleasure  from  tasks  which  at  the 
outset  do  not  afford  pleasure,  we  shall  be  deep  in  the  psy- 
chology of  pleasure,  and  we  shall  be  greatly  concerned  to 
discover  the  formula  by  which  geometry  can  be  used  as  an 
instrument  for  giving  the  ultimate  pleasure  promised. 

The  reader  who  has  had  the  courage  to  follow  the  dis- 
cussions of  the  last  few  pages  will  be  convinced  that  it  is 
relatively  easy  to  raise  psychological  questions.  The  answers 
to  some  of  these  questions  are  not  always  easy  to  find.  Our 
present  purpose  has,  however,  been  served  if  the  method  of 
raising  questions  has  been  demonstrated.  Answering  some 
of  these  questions  will  be  the  work  of  later  chapters.  We 
shall  therefore  close  the  special  treatment  of  geometry  and 
turn  for  a  time  to  the  analysis  of  algebra,  returning,  after 
some  discussion  of  algebra,  to  the  question  of  the  relation 
between  geometry  and  the  other  branches  of  mathematics. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION 

The  psychological  analysis  of  algebra  must  be  introduced 
by  a  consideration,  first,  of  the  psychology  of  number,  and 
second,  by  a  consideration  of  the  psychology  of  abstraction. 
Algebra  is  a  generalized  arithmetic,  and  as  such  is  related 
historically  to  the  science  of  number  rather  than  to  the 
science  of  space.  This  historical  relation  was  the  subject 
of  brief  comment  in  an  earlier  chapter  and  need  not  be 
elaborated  here. 

NUMBER  CONSCIOUSNESS  A  FORM  OF  COMPARISON 

The  mental  process  which  appears  in  number  conscious- 
ness is  in  essence  one  of  the  many  forms  of  comparison. 
The  objects  to  be  counted  are  related  in  consciousness  to 
some  set  of  objects,  or  to  some  standard  series  of  ideas, 
which  serve  as  tallies.  Thus,  when  primitive  man  came 
to  possess  so  many  cattle  or  tents  that  he  could  no  longer 
remember  them  individually,  he  began  to  compare  his  pos- 
sessions to  convenient  and  more  readily  manageable  sets  of 
objects  which  served  as  tallies.  The  word  "calculate"  and 
related  words  show  that  the  ancient  Roman  used  peb- 
bles (calculus,  "  a  pebble  ")  for  the  purpose  in  question.  He 
looked  at  one  sheep  or  one  ox  and  set  aside  a  pebble  as  a 
reminder  of  this  item  of  his  wealth.  The  pebble  thus  set 
aside  was  easy  to  manage,  and  it  was  a  safe  reminder,  for 
it  was  soon  found  to  be  invariably  true  that  if  there  had 
once  been  a  one-to-one  correspondence  between  tallies  and 

90 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  91 

objects,  there  would  always  be  a  one-to-one  correspondence. 
That  is,  if  a  pebble  had  been  set  aside  for  a  sheep,  then  later 
there  must  be  a  sheep  for  each  pebble. 

The  common  series  on  which  primitive  man  depended 
to  thus  remind  himself  of  his  possessions  was  the  series  of 
digits  which  he  always  had  as  convenient  objects  of  im- 
mediate reference.  The  fingers  exercised  a  significant  and 
formative  influence  on  the  methods  of  counting.  We  can 
understand  this  influence  only  when  we  consider  many  facts 
regarding  the  fingers  as  a  system  of  tallies.  Thus  we  may 
comment  in  detail  on  one  essential  characteristic  of  the 
fingers  which  influenced  the  mind  in  making  up  number 
systems.  The  fingers  are  a  limited  group  and  require,  in 
addition  to  themselves,  certain  supplementary  devices  which 
make  it  possible  to  use  them  over  and  over  again  in  tally- 
ing off  large  collections  of  objects.  The  number  system 
becomes,  therefore,  a  series  of  multiples,  and  much  of  the 
terminology  of  number  deals  with  this  repeating  of  the  base. 
Furthermore,  the  decimal  base  and  the  base  of  five  which  ap- 
pear in  many  number  schemes  are  not  mathematically  nec- 
essary. The  base  might  equally  well  have  been  six  or  twelve 
or  some  other  small,  easily  recognized  number.  In  the  se- 
lection of  ten  we  see  the  influence  of  the  fingers.  In  the 
struggles  through  which  primitive  people  passed  in  develop- 
ing a  number  terminology  which  should  include  many  tens, 
we  see  the  embarrassments  and  limitations  which  grew  out  of 
the  limited  system  of  tallies  which  the  hand  made  available. 

WOEDS  AS  SUBSTITUTES  FOR  TALLIES 

After  primitive  man  became  familiar  with  the  advantages 
of  a  one-to-one  comparison  of  objects  with  a  system  of  tal- 
lies, it  was  natural  that  he  should  translate  the  system  of 
tallying  which  he  had  evolved  into  a  system  of  words.  The 
number  terms  used  by  primitive  peoples  exhibit  almost 


92    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

universally  the  direct  relation  of  number  words  to  the  hand- 
tally  system.    Thus  one  historian 1  remarks : 

The  number  five  is  generally  represented  by  the  open  hand, 
and  it  is  said  that  in  almost  all  languages  the  words  "  five  "  and 
"  hand  "  are  derived  from  the  same  root.  .  .  .  The  only  tribes 
of  whom  I  have  read  who  did  not  count  in  terms  either  of  five 
or  of  some  multiple  of  five  are  the  Bolans  of  AVest  Africa,  who 
are  said  to  have  counted  by  multiples  of  seven,  and  the  Maoris, 
who  are  said  to  have  counted  by  multiples  of  eleven. 

The. creation  of  a  series  of  words  which  could  be  substi- 
tuted for  the  objects  used  as  tallies  is  a  long  process.  Such 
a  series  of  words  has  the  disadvantage  over  a  series  of  tal- 
lies that  the  word  disappears  as  soon  as  it  is  uttered.  Imag- 
ine a  speaker  saying  over  to  himself,  "one,  one,  one,"  and 
so  on,  as  the  items  of  his  property  pass  in  review.  Evi- 
dently such  a  series  of  ones  is  of  no  use  in  keeping  tally, 
because  the  tally  system  is  less  easy  to  remember  than  the 
objects  taken  directly.  The  words  used  in  the  tally  system 
must  be  distinguishable,  and,  furthermore,  each  word  must 
have  a  fixed  place  in  the  number  series.  The  importance 
of  giving  a  number  word  a  fixed  place  in  the  series  is  seen 
when  we  observe  little  children  who  know  number  words, 
but  do  not  know  their  order.  A  little  child  will  count  with- 
out recognition  of  order,  saying  "  three,  seven,  one,  five." 
A  few  moments  later  he  will  say  "  nine,  six,  one,  three." 
He  does  not  know  the  order  of  these  words,  hence  he 
cannot  count  in  any  true  sense. 

HIGHER  FORMS  or  COMPARISON  APPLIED  TO  NUMBERS 

We  cannot  here  enter  into  the  details  of  the  history  of 
number  terminology.  Let  us  assume  that  a  race  or  indi- 
vidual has  learned  to  count,  and  has  a  developed  number 

1 W.  W.  R.  Ball,  A  Short  Account  of  the  History  of  Mathematics, 
p.  125.  The  Macmillan  Company,  1893. 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  93 

terminology.  There  are  still  higher  forms  of  thought  which 
number  makes  possible.  Thus,  suppose  there  are  side  by 
side  two  heaps  of  pebbles  representing  the  Roman's  count 
of  his  properties.  He  wishes  now  to  combine  or  divide  the 
two  parts  of  his  property  represented  by  these  two  heaps 
of  tallies.  He  can  do  this  in  various  ways :  either  he  can  go 
back  to  the  things  themselves,  or  he  can  carry  on  the  re- 
distribution with  the  aid  of  his  tallies.  There  is  a  third  way 
which  he  might  adopt:  he  might  divide  up  the  images  of 
his  possessions  which  he  carries  in  memory.  Finally,  he 
might  adopt  the  most  elaborate  and  complex  method  of 
all:  he  might  first  translate  his  property  into  tallies,  and 
then  do  his  readjusting  by  thinking  about  his  tallies.  The 
method  of  relying  on  tallies  proved  to  be  the  simplest. 
Man  also  found  very  soon  that  there  are  certain  regular 
principles  which  assert  themselves  in  the  combination  and 
recombination  of  tallies.  The  discovery  of  these  regular 
principles  of  combination  in  tally  systems  led  to  the  inven- 
tion of  counting  and  adding  machines  such  as  the  abacus. 
An  abacus  is  a  mechanical  contrivance  to  facilitate  combin- 
ing and  recombining  groups  of  tallies.  The  psychological 
effect  of  using  this  machine  is  that  the  individual  becomes 
expert  in  rearranging  sets  of  tallies ;  this  is  a  higher  proc- 
ess than  that  involved  in  counting. 

Again,  we  cannot  enter  into  the  history  of  adding  and 
dividing  devices.  We  are,  however,  interested  in  the  fact, 
for  which  there  is  abundant  historical  evidence,  that  when 
men  found  how  elaborately  numbers  can  be  combined  and 
recombined,  some  of  them  became  so  absorbed  in  this  mere 
working  over  of  number  systems  that  they  forgot  the  rela- 
tion of  numbers  to  things.  Numbers  became  things  of  a 
higher  order  —  they  were  of  interest  not  because  of  what 
they  represented,  but  because  of  their  own  laws  of  combi- 
nation and  recombination.  We  speak  to-day  of  pure  num- 
ber as  distinguished  from  applications.  The  expression 


94    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

"  pure  numbers  "  indicates  that  the  number  system  has  an 
interest  to  the  student  of  the  laws  of  number  combination, 
even  though  the  process  of  combination  and  recombination 
is  not  directly  related  to  any  perceptual  experience. 

NUMBERS  DISTINCT  FROM  SYSTEMS  OF  MEASUREMENT 

Number  systems  and  principles  of  number  combination 
and  recombination  are,  in  our  present-day  civilization,  inti- 
mately related  to  all  kinds  of  systems  of  measurement.  It 
should  be  recognized,  however,  that  numbers  are  not  to  be 
confused  with  standards  of  measurement.  Thus,  when  one 
uses  a  foot  ruler  to  measure  distance  and  a  dollar  to  meas- 
ure money  values,  he  can  apply  the  principles  of  number 
combinations  in  exactly  the  same  way  to  two  wholly  differ- 
ent standards  and  to  two  wholly  different  sets  of  experi- 
ences. The  creation  of  a  standard  foot  is  not  a  phase  of 
number  consciousness.  Number  is  used  in  dealing  with  the 
foot,  but  the  selection  of  the  foot,  and  the  devices  adopted 
for  applying  the  foot  to  other  spaces  which  are  to  be  meas- 
ured, are  not  problems  of  number. 

The  distinction  between  the  pure  number  idea  and  the 
practical  arts  of  applying  standards  to  objects  is  a  distinc- 
tion which  needs  to  be  emphasized  by  the  student  of 
education.  Educational  literature  has  at  times  confused 
these  two  different  psychological  processes,  and  our  text- 
books are  full  of  admixtures  of  the  two.  Thus,  in  all  school 
arithmetics  the  tables  of  weights  and  measures  are  given  as 
a  part  of  the  science  of  number.  That  the  tables  of  weights 
and  measures  are  not  arithmetical  in  character,  as  are  the 
addition  table  or  multiplication  table,  is  seen  in  the  simple 
fact  that  French  arithmetic  is  the  same  as  English  arithmetic 
in  so  far  as  it  presents  the  tables  of  pure  number  and  number 
recombination,  but  French  and  English  books  are  wholly 
different  in  the  standard  weights  and  measures  presented. 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  95 

The  selection  of  a  standard  greatly  promotes  the  appli- 
cation of  number  to  practical  life,  and  a  standard  could  not 
be  used  to  any  advantage  if  there  were  no  number  system; 
but  the  intimate  relation  of  the  two  does  not  justify  the 
notion  that  they  are  psychologically  the  same. 

For  our  study  of  algebra  it  is  of  the  highest  importance 
that  we  distinguish  between  measurement  and  number 
combinations.  Algebra  is  a  science  which  studies  the  laws 
of  number  recombination  without  any  reference  to  stand- 
ards of  measurement.  The  student  who  has  been  studying 
weights  and  measures  in  the  upper  grades  of  the  elemen- 
tary school  comes  into  high-school  algebra  and  finds  no 
tables  of  weights  and  measures.  He  finds  some  of  the  famil- 
iar forms  of  combination  which  he  used  hi  arithmetic,  but 
these  combinations  are  freed,  as  far  as  possible,  in  algebra 
from  direct  reference  to  any  particular  standards  of  meas- 
urement. Algebra  does  not  measure;  it  establishes  and 
expounds  laws  of  combination  and  recombination.  It  is  an 
abstract  science  of  the  laws  of  mathematical  combination, 
it  is  not  a  final  chapter  of  the  ordinary  arithmetic ;  such 
chapters  invariably  deal  with  applications  of  mathematical 
laws  to  complex  measurements. 

ALGEBRA  A  SCIENCE  OF  HIGHER  ABSTRACTION 

Take,  for  example,  the  simple  algebraic  statement 
a  (b  +  c?)  =  ab  4-  ac. 

This  statement  sets  forth  a  fundamental  and  universal  law 
of  combination,  but  it  says  not  a  word  about  standards. 
The  algebraic  formula  is  a  device  for  stripping  the  process 
of  combination,  as  far  as  possible,  of  all  content,  and  with 
the  content  removed,  we  face  the  one  question,  How  can 
quantitative  ideas  be  recombined?  We  are  dealing  here 
with  an  abstract  matter  of  rearrangement. 


96    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

This  concentration  of  attention  on  the  laws  of  combina- 
tion and  the  neglect  of  all  concrete  aspects  of  situations 
is  a  form  of  abstraction.  We  must  therefore  study  more 
completely  the  psychology  of  abstraction.  Abstraction  is  a 
form  of  mental  activity  which  begins  with  analysis.  Through 
analysis  we  cut  off  in  thought  certain  elements  of  a  percep- 
tual experience,  and  concentrate  on  a  single  characteristic 
or  on  a  limited  group  of  characteristics.  We  saw  one  type 
of  abstraction  when  we  were  considering  the  geometrical 
definitions  of  lines  and  points.  The  perceived  line  has 
width  and  color  as  the  observer  sees  it,  but  we  do  not  want 
to  consider  the  width  or  the  color  in  geometry ;  we  accord- 
ingly neglect  them  and  say  that  a  line  has  only  one  charac- 
teristic, namely,  length.  The  point  is  described  as  having 
no  sensory  properties,  no  color,  not  even  dimensions.  That 
means  that  in  geometry  we  must  neglect  all  those  sensory 
properties  which  we  see  when  we  look  at  real  points.  The 
neglect  of  certain  aspects  of  a  situation  is  the  negative  side 
of  abstraction.  On  the  positive  side  we  concentrate  atten- 
tion on  those  facts  which  constitute  the  real  subject  matter 
of  our  science.  Thus  a  line  has  length ;  a  point  has  position. 
For  geometry  the  laws  of  position  and  extension  are  the 
only  facts  worth  considering  in  the  experiences  which  we 
derive  from  points  and  lines. 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  FORMS  OF  ABSTRACTION 

The  example  of  abstraction  which  was  borrowed  from 
geometry  is  by  no  means  the  simplest  example  that  could 
be  found.  We  are  constantly  making  abstractions  in  our 
dealing  with  objects  in  that  we  neglect  certain  parts  of  the 
sensory  experiences  which  come  to  us  as  we  look  at  each 
object.  For  example,  when  talking  with  a  person  we  neglect 
practically  all  of  the  visual  experiences  which  come  to  us 
from  the  walls  of  the  room  or  the  objects  in  the  room.  We 


NUMBEK  AND  ABSTKACTION  97 

thus  cut  off  or  abstract  the  person  from  his  surroundings. 
If  we  are  talking  with  a  larger  number  of  people  in  the 
same  room,  we  include  more  sensory  elements ;  we  even 
make  use  of  the  visual  images  which  we  get  from  the  walls, 
in  order  to  adjust  properly  the  vigor  with  which  we  articu- 
late. Our  mental  and  physical  attitudes  are  very  different 
when  we  are  thinking  of  many  people  and  when  we  are 
thinking  of  a  single  person.  Our  attitudes  are  thus  seen  to 
be  relatively  independent  of  the  sensory  impressions  offered 
to  us.  We  may  therefore  conclude  that  abstractions  and 
activities  are  closely  related. 

The  reason  why  we  analyze  our  experiences  and  concen- 
trate on  certain  selected  portions  of  them  is  that  we  are 
able  to  react  at  any  given  moment  only  to  one  aspect  of 
the  whole  situation.  Those  parts  of  the  situation  to  which 
we  react  are  of  enough  greater  importance  to  us  so  that  we 
recognize  them  more  clearly  in  consciousness  than  we  do 
the  elements  of  the  situation  to  which  we  do  not  react.  In 
some  cases  we  deliberately  react  for  the  purpose  of  helping 
ourselves  to  discriminate.  Thus,  if  one  points  his  finger  in 
a  certain  direction,  he  finds  that  he  can  concentrate  his 
attention  and  the  attention  of  his  audience  very  much  better 
through  this  act  than  through  any  other  means.  The  ges- 
ture of  pointing  is,  therefore,  an  instrument  of  analysis.  In 
the  same  way  there  are  certain  reactions  of  the  eyes  which 
aid  analysis.  If  one  points  to  a  particular  object  and  focuses 
his  eyes  upon  that  object,  he  brings  out  the  meaning  and 
value  of  the  object  on  which  he  focuses  very  much  more 
vividly  than  he  could  if  his  eyes  simply  wandered  about  the 
room.  Indeed,  in  visual  analysis,  nature  has  cooperated  by 
making  the  central  part  of  the  retina  very  different,  in  its 
structure  and  in  its  ability  to  receive  impressions,  from  the 
rest  of  the  retina.  Consequently,  a  person  who  looks  with 
fixed  vision  not  only  has  the  advantage  of  the  movement  by 
which  he  concentrates  attention  on  a  given  object,  but  he  also 


98    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

has  a  clearer  and  more  vivid  group  of  sensory  experiences 
from  an  object  which  is  seen  with  the  center  of  the  retina. 
Many  of  our  movements  are  designed  to  bring  us  into 
more  intimate  sensory  contact  with  the  objects  of  attention. 
Thus,  if  after  looking  at  an  object  for  a  time  I  go  to  it  and 
take  it  in  my  hand,  I  am  not  only  helping  myself  to  neglect 
the  rest  of  my  environment  and  to  concentrate  attention 
on  the  one  object  through  my  movement,  but  I  have  also 
increased  my  sensory  contact  with  the  object.  All  these 
examples  show  how  important  are  the  analyses  which  we 
are  constantly  making  of  our  experiences. 

WOKDS  THE  CHIEF  INSTRUMENTS  OF  ABSTRACTION 

We  have,  in  addition  to  the  various  forms  of  movement 
which  have  been  described  above,  an  important  instrument 
of  analysis  in  the  words  which  we  employ.  If  I  look  at  a 
general  surface  and  observe  at  first  its  general  character- 
istics, and  then  use  a  single  word  to  designate  its  color, 
I  aid  myself  in  the  analysis  of  the  situation  by  the  use  of 
this  word.  The  value  of  the  word  is  not  merely  that  I  ex- 
press an  idea.  The  greatest  value  of  the  word  is  that  I  am 
thus  aided  in  making  an  analysis  of  my  own  experience. 
I  distinguish  between  the  color  and  the  other  characteristics 
of  the  object  through  the  word  as  an  instrument  of  discrim- 
ination. After  I  have  thus  made  analysis  by  means  of  a 
word,  the  word  comes  to  stand  in  my  experience  for  the 
characteristic  which  it  designates.  In  later  cases  the  word 
may  be  used  to  bring  up  in  the  mind  a  picture  or  image 
of  the  selected  characteristic.  On  the  other  hand,  in  many 
cases  the  word  does  not  recall  the  characteristic  in  any 
vivid  way.  It  merely  makes  the  characteristic  available 
without  concrete  imagery.  Thus,  if  one  uses  the  word 
"  blue,"  he  can  safely  contrast  blue  with  other  colors,  re- 
marking to  himself  that  blue  is  different  from  red  or  green. 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  99 

In  such  a  contrast  of  words  we  do  not  need  vivid  pictures 
of  the  colors  themselves  to  become  aware  of  the  differences 
between  the  sensory  qualities  to  which  the  words  refer; 
the  very  difference  between  the  names  is  significant  for  our 
thought.  The  fact  that  one  has  separate  words  for  various 
color  experiences  records  the  fact  that  these  experiences 
are  different.  Indeed,  one  can  talk  about  this  difference 
without  realizing  exactly  what  the  difference  is.  In  short, 
one  can  concentrate  attention  on  a  difference  depending 
wholly  upon  two  words  without  calling  up  the  actual  sen- 
sory images  at  all.  To  be  sure,  if  one  wanted  to  do  so,  he 
could  usually  think  this  difference  out  in  sensory  terms, 
but  for  the  most  part  one  saves  time  and  energy  by  not 
trying  to  think  out  the  difference  in  full.  It  is  more  eco- 
nomical for  one  to  do  his  thinking  and  comparing  in  words. 
In  all  these  cases  we  see  how  the  mind  operates  through 
symbols,  that  is,  through  representative  experiences  which 
are  substituted  for  direct  experiences.  The  use  of  symbols 
is  also,  as  seen  in  these  examples,  related  to  selective 
thought  or  abstraction. 

In  the  same  way  there  is  a  relation  between  a  given  word 
and  the  more  general  word  under  which  it  is  classified. 
When  I  use  the  two  words  "color"  and  "blue,"  I  do  not 
have  to  stop  and  work  out  the  matter  in  a  sensory  way.  I 
have  learned  how  to  use  the  words  as  substitutes  for  the 
experience,  and  I  know  that  the  word  "color"  is  a  general 
word  and  that  blue  is  classified  under  it  as  a  specific  term. 
If  now  I  go  on  and  use  a  still  more  highly  specialized 
term  such  as  "  navy  blue,"  the  words  themselves  serve  to 
indicate  that  I  am  dealing  with  a  subclass.  Even  a  person 
who  has  not  seen  navy  blue  would  realize  that  this  word 
designates  a  more  specific  experience  than  does  the  general 
word  "  blue." 

We  see  by  these  examples  how  the  process  of  abstraction 
is  more  than  a  process  of  mere  analysis.  The  first  stage  of 


100     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

abstraction  is  to  neglect  certain  of  the  facts  of  the  environ- 
ment and  to  concentrate  attention  on  the  others ;  the  second 
stage  of  abstraction  is  that  in  which  we  substitute  products 
of  our  thought  for  real  experiences,  and  by  using  these  prod- 
ucts of  our  thought  we  carry  on  more  rapidly  and  efficiently 
all  sorts  of  complex  comparisons  and  discriminations. 

DANGERS  OP  ABSTRACTION 

In  some  cases,  to  be  sure,  our  symbols,  or  substitutes  for 
experience,  get  so  far  away  from  the  real  sensory  images 
that  we  have  difficulty  in  carrying  on  our  trains  of  thought 
in  such  a  way  that  they  are  productive  as  guides  for  later 
contact  with  the  world  of  direct  sensory  experiences.  We 
then  speak  of  our  abstract  thinking  as  too  abstract,  or  we 
treat  our  mental  processes  as  mere  speculations.  Thus,  to 
use  one  more  example  from  geometry,  we  may  assume, 
with  the  non-Euclidean  geometricians,  that  parallel  lines 
meet  if  they  are  extended.  This  assumption  that  parallel 
lines  meet  is  made  for  the  purpose  of  comparing  a  wholly 
abstract  or  assumed  space  with  the  space  which  we  know 
in  Euclidean  geometry  where  parallel  lines  do  not  meet. 
There  is  no  difficulty  whatsoever  in  talking  about  parallel 
lines  that  meet.  In  the  world  of  complete  abstraction,  that 
is,  in  the  world  of  thought  about  lines,  we  may  think  of  lines 
in  any  way  that  seems  to  us  to  be  desirable  ;  but  we  cannot 
take  the  results  of  such  thought  back  into  the  world  of  prac- 
tice or  even  into  the  world  of  direct  imagery.  Anyone  who, 
after  speculating  for  a  time  about  different  kinds  of  possible 
space,  should  try  to  lay  railroad  rails,  on  the  assumption 
that  parallel  lines  meet,  would  find  himself  in  difficulty. 
Speculation  and  practical  life  thus  frequently  need  to  be 
distinguished  from  each  other.  Indeed,  the  distinction  is  so 
evident  that  perhaps  the  better  statement  of  the  case  is  to 
say  that  the  two  forms  of  experience  need  reconciliation. 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  101 

ADVANTAGES  OF  ABSTRACTION 

Nor  is  the  value  of  speculation  to  be  questioned  even 
when  the  results  are  not  directly  applicable  to  common 
life.  Very  frequently  it  is  important  that  we  should  con- 
trast our  experiences  in  various  ways,  in  order  that  we  may 
learn  to  understand  the  characteristics  of  real  experience. 
One  who  has  studied  non-Euclidean  geometry  for  a  time 
realizes  very  much  more  vividly  than  he  ever  realized  be- 
fore the  importance  of  the  statement  that  in  the  space 
which  we  know  parallel  lines  do  not  meet.  The  contrast 
has  helped  him  to  understand  in  a  new  way  what  he  has 
always  seen  but  never  fully  realized. 

The  mental  exercise  which  comes  from  contrasting  pos- 
sible experiences  is  thus  seen  to  be  of  value.  In  the  same 
way  in  many  of  our  demonstrations  in  geometry  we  assume 
the  contrary,  and  by  the  process  of  reductio  ad  absurdum 
we  demonstrate  the  fact  that  the  assumption  which  we  have 
made  is  untenable.  The  argument  in  this  case  is  a  purely 
speculative  argument.  We  assume  that  things  might  be 
different  from  real  experience  for  the  sake  of  coming  back 
with  greater  assurance  to  the  real  experiences  which  will 
not  conform  to  our  speculation. 

SPECIAL  MEANS  OF  MATHEMATICAL  ABSTRACTION 

There  are  instruments  of  abstraction  other  than  words ; 
or,  perhaps,  the  better  way  to  put  the  case  will  be  to  draw 
attention  to  the  fact  that  after  language  developed,  other 
forms  of  experience  were  brought  into  conformity  with 
language  and  were  made  abstract  in  a  sense  even  more 
general  than  speech  itself.  Thus  written  words  came  to 
stand  for  spoken  words.  At  the  outset  written  symbols 
were  of  an  entirely  different  type  from  those  which  we 
now  have,  but  so  significant  is  oral  speech  as  an  instrument 


102    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

for  abstraction  and  analysis  that  the  visual  symbols  took  on 
all  the  characteristics  of  spoken  words.  Then  came  a  new 
and  additional  development.  The  written  word,  having 
taken  on  all  the  characteristics  of  the  abstract  spoken 
word,  began  to  exhibit  abstract  possibilities  of  a  higher 
order  than  even  the  oral  word.  The  mere  sight  of  a  word 
now  makes  comparative  thought  possible.  For  example, 
when  the  two  words  "  blue  "  and  "  color  "  appear  on  the 
printed  page,  the  word  "  blue  "  is  recognized  as  a  specific 
term  under  the  general  term  "  color."  This  is  done  without 
any  complete  articulation,  or  any  clear  representation  of  the 
visual  experiences  to  which  the  words  refer  or  even  of  the 
auditory  experience  arising  from  the  utterance  of  the  word. 
Any  careful  analysis  of  the  reading  process  shows  that  we 
tend  to  keep  alive  more  or  less  the  articulation  which  is 
connected  with  the  word ;  but  this  articulation,  as  we  shall 
note  more  fully  in  a  later  chapter,  gradually  grows  weaker 
and,  in  some  cases,  gives  place  entirely  to  other  and  more 
fundamental  forms  of  physiological  activity.  The  fact  is 
that  we  have  in  written  symbols  a  new  stage  of  abstraction 
which  can  be  used  in  complex  thought-processes  in  almost 
complete  independence  of  sensory  experiences. 

From  written  words  turn  to  the  signs  used  in  mathemat- 
ical equations.  How  far  we  are  from  direct  sensory  experi- 
ence in  the  use  of  the  symbol  of  equality  or  the  symbol 
of  addition  !  We  can  talk  about  adding  things,  using  the 
word  "  addition  "  as  the  instrument  for  expression,  and  we 
shall  recognize  that  we  have  reached  a  high  stage  of  ab- 
straction ;  but  when  we  write  the  symbol  for  addition  and, 
without  any  complete  articulation  or  description,  instantly 
recognize  the  fact  that  this  symbol  means  the  assembling 
into  a  single  quantity  of  all  the  quantities  that  are  on  both 
sides  of  it,  then  we  have  isolated  for  purposes  of  thought, 
and  dealt  abstractly  with,  a  process  of  mathematical  manip- 
ulation. The  purely  abstract  use  of  addition  is,  of  course, 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  103 

possible  only  after  one  has  seen  the  process  actually  carried 
out  with  a  number  of  concrete  experiences.  Thus  the  child 
must  add  seven  splints  to  five  splints  or  he  must  add  five 
blocks  to  seven  blocks  before  he  will  understand  what  is 
meant  by  the  process  of  addition.  Little  by  little  he  can  be 
brought  to  the  point  where  he  does  not  need  to  think  of 
the  actual  piling  together  of  objects  in  order  to  understand 
what  is  meant  by  addition.  Ultimately  the  child  can  think 
of  the  process  of  addition  and  its  laws  quite  apart  from 
any  concrete  examples,  as  when  a  trained  adult  recognizes 
without  detailed  thought  that  addition  increases  while 
subtraction  diminishes. 

ALGEBRA  AS  AN  ABSTRACT  SCIENCE 

The  science  of  algebra  can  be  defined  in  terms  of  the 
foregoing  discussion  as  a  science  which  examines  math- 
ematical operations  in  a  purely  abstract  way.  We  get  as 
far  away  as  we  can  from  any  real  cases,  and  we  study  in 
the  most  abstract  form  how  any  case  could  be  treated  if  we 
wanted  to  treat  it  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  adding 
process,  or  the  dividing  process,  or  the  subtracting  process, 
etc.  We  study  the  different  combinations  of  multiplication, 
permutation,  etc.,  which  are  feasible,  with  all  quantities  of 
any  kind  whatsoever.  Whenever  we  come  upon  a  symbol 
of  mathematical  operation  we  have  the  real  subject  matter 
of  this  science  before  us. 

It  is  not  enough,  however,  to  have  mere  symbols  of 
operation.  There  must  be  in  every  algebraic  formula  some- 
thing which  stands  for,  and  serves  as  a  substitute  for,  the 
things  which  are  to  be  added  or  otherwise  manipulated. 
For  the  purposes  of  a  general  science  which  is  studying  the 
process  of  manipulation,  it  is  desirable  that  the  quantities 
which  are  to  be  handled  should,  as  far  as  possible,  leave 
behind  all  of  their  particular  characteristics.  We  do  not 


104     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

want  to  know  what  kind  of  things  are  to  be  added.  We 
merely  want  to  know  what  will  happen  to  anything  if  it 
is  added  to  something  else.  We  consequently  set  down  in 
our  algebraic  formulas  the  most  abstract  symbols  of  quan- 
tity which  we  can  find,  taking  great  pains  that  the  symbols 
which  we  use  shall  have  as  little  concrete  significance  as 
possible.  We  have,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  found  it  advantageous 
to  use  for  this  purpose  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.  The 
letters  taken  singly  have  no  meaning  whatsoever,  and  con- 
sequently they  serve  admirably  the  purpose  in  hand.  We 
cannot  use  numbers,  because  numbers  are  expressions  of  a 
definite  kind  of  fact,  namely,  exact  position  in  the  number 
series.  It  would  be  fatal  to  our  study  of  the  addition 
process,  as  such,  if  we  used  particular  numbers.  To  be  sure, 
numbers  represent  a  high  stage  of  abstraction,  but  they 
are  nevertheless  particular  quantities  in  the  sense  that  a 
given  number  means  a  perfectly  definite  relationship.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  we  use  the  letter  a  instead  of  a  number, 
we  have  freed  ourselves  from  any  particular  experiences, 
even  the  experience  of  a  particular  relation.  It  would  not 
do  to  use  a  symbol  which  had  even  so  much  concrete  sig- 
nificance as  a  word.  Suppose,  for  example,  that  one  should 
say  in  algebra  that  books  added  to  books  equal  a  library. 
Here  we  should  have  our  attention  concentrated  upon  books, 
and  we  could  not  study  the  addition  process  apart  from 
the  concrete  objects  which  are  to  be  added.  Letters  as 
contrasted  with  numbers  and  words  represent  no  particular 
content.  We  might  use  symbols  other  than  letters.  We 
might  use  triangles  and  squares.  The  difficulty  here  is 
that  if  we  try  to  use  triangles  and  squares,  we  are  in  danger 
of  forgetting  that  we  do  not  mean  triangles  and  squares. 
Forms  are  too  interesting  in  themselves.  We  might  use 
such  a  form  as  that  of  a  triangle,  stipulating  that  it  repre- 
sents any  sort  of  a  quantity,  but  there  would  still  be  the 
lingering  impression  that  this  triangle  can  represent  only 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  105 

other  triangles.  The  association  of  space  with  space  is 
too  vivid  to  make  the  triangle  available  as  an  absolutely 
general  symbol. 

When  a  set  of  symbols  has  been  stripped  of  all  concrete 
content  we  find  that  attention  can  be  concentrated  wholly 
upon  processes  or  operations.  Furthermore,  we  find  that 
when  we  have  learned  the  laws  of  mathematical  operation 
we  can  come  back  to  real  situations  with  greater  economy 
of  mental  energy  than  we  could  effect  if  we  held  all  along 
to  the  concrete  facts.  In  other  words,  if  our  reasoning  is 
correct,  it  is  possible  to  come  back  to  real  quantities  with 
full  assurance  that  in  so  far  as  the  conclusion  depends  on 
rearrangement  it  is  entirely  reliable,  without  carrying  the 
real  quantities  through  all  the  operations.  Thus,  if  I  have 
a  real  set  of  facts,  such  as  income  and  expenditure,  and 
wish  to  find  out  how  the  combination  of  income  and  ex- 
penditure will  work  out  if  I  add  at  this  point  and  subtract 
at  another,  I  can  turn  my  items  at  the  beginning  of  the 
discussion  into  abstract  form  by  substituting  letters  for  the 
particular  items.  I  can  now  carry  these  letters  through  all 
the  various  processes  of  combination  and  recombination 
without  thinking  in  detail  about  income  and  expenditure 
as  real  concrete  experiences.  I  merely  think  about  the  proc- 
esses of  combination  and  recombination.  That  is,  I  can 
say  to  myself  that  if  I  add  a  to  b  and  b  to  c,  the  result 
for  my  next  operation  will  be  thus  and  so ;  I  can  carry  on 
my  second  and  third  operations,  using  the  letters  all  the 
time  as  substitutes  for  all  real  facts,  and  can  after  a  long 
train  of  reasoning,  in  which  I  have  been  concerned  only 
with  combinations  and  recombinations,  find  myself  in  pos- 
session of  a  result  which  now  can  be  translated  back  into 
the  real  facts.  If  I  have  taken  a,  6,  and  c  as  three  quan- 
tities and  have  worked  them  over  until  I  find  that  I  am 
left  with  2a  +  ±b  —  4c,  I  can  instantly  translate  these 
symbols  back  into  real  quantities,  with  the  assurance  that 


106     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

all  my  manipulations  have  yielded  a  perfectly  definite  re- 
sult. By  turning  quantities  into  abstract  symbols  at  the 
outset,  I  have  avoided  all  the  clumsiness  of  reference  to 
particular  quantities.  I  have  concentrated  attention  upon 
the  processes  in  which  I  am  interested,  and  have  there- 
fore economized  enormously  my  mental  energy ;  indeed, 
since  my  rules  of  procedure  are  reliable  I  have  insured 
even  greater  correctness  of  thought  than  would  have  been 
possible  if  I  had  carried  the  concrete  experiences  along  in 
full,  for  my  thought-processes  have  been  reduced  to  the 
last  possible  stage  of  simplicity. 

ADVANTAGES  OF  NEGLECTING  THE  CONCRETE 

Algebra  thus  shows  itself  to  be,  as  is  all  abstract  thought, 
a  most  economical  mental  device.  Once  we  acquire  the 
power  to  neglect  all  the  concrete  facts  and  to  concentrate 
our  attention  wholly  upon  the  processes  of  manipulation, 
we  are  free  from  the  incumbrances  that  come  through  at- 
tention to  the  concrete  facts.  Not  only  so,  but  there  are 
certain  additional  advantages  which  can  be  gained  from 
carrying  on  thought  at  this  abstract  level.  We  can  repre- 
sent to  ourselves  certain  quantities  which  could  not,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  be  known  in  the  concrete.  Thus  the  student 
of  algebra  can  represent  the  quantity  which  he  wishes  to 
secure  by  a  letter  such  as  x,  and  although  it  is  for  the  time 
being  an  unknown  quantity,  he  can  include  it  in  all  his 
reasoning  about  operations.  By  including  the  unknown 
result  in  one's  reasoning,  one  gets  all  of  the  advantages 
of  having  the  quantity  for  purposes  of  manipulation  even 
when  he  could  not  include  it  as  a  real  quantity,  because  it 
is  not  known.  The  use  of  a  quantity  before  one  knows  it 
is  possible  only  when  the  student  becomes  so  familiar  with 
the  laws  of  algebraic  manipulation  that  he  is  perfectly 
sure  that  he  is  treating  all  quantities  properly  without  any 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  107 

reference  whatsoever  to  their  real  character.  Another  and 
perhaps  a  more  striking  example  is  the  use  of  imaginary 
quantities  in  algebra.  Here  the  quantity  is  a  pure  abstrac- 
tion developed  by  the  processes  of  mathematical  manipula- 
tion, and  useful  as  a  means  of  carrying  these  processes  far 
enough  to  permit  them  to  reach  completion. 

CONTRAST  BETWEEN  ALGEBRA  AND  ARITHMETIC 

These  discussions  show  the  enormous  advantage  which 
is  gained  by  dealing  abstractly  with  situations.  If  a  stu- 
dent can  be  made  aware  of  the  fact  that  algebra  is  an 
economy  of  time  and  energy,  he  is  likely  to  get  on  very 
much  better  in  his  use  of  symbols  and  in  his  appreciation 
of  their  meaning  than  if  he  is  simply  led  to  think  of  the 
algebraic  processes  as  processes  of  the  same  type  as  those 
which  he  used  in  arithmetic.  Arithmetic  is  a  particular 
science ;  algebra  is  a  general  science.  Arithmetic  is  limited 
by  the  fact  that  the  use  of  numbers  always  requires  atten- 
tion to  the  number  characteristics  of  each  integer  which  is 
employed.  We  cannot  use  unknown  quantities  in  arith- 
metic, simply  because  we  have  not  gone  far  enough  in  the 
process  of  abstraction  in  arithmetic  to  get  rid  of  the  partic- 
ular qualities  which  are  connected  with  particular  numbers. 
In  arithmetic  it  sometimes  takes  a  long  series  of  operations 
to  work  out  an  example  which  a  very  short  series  of  proc- 
esses will  work  out  in  algebra.  It  is  not  proper,  therefore, 
to  speak  of  algebra  as  a  chapter  of  arithmetic.  Algebra 
takes  up  the  processes  and  operations  which  are  known  to 
arithmetic  in  a  form  which  is  unknown  to  arithmetic.  Stu- 
dents always  have  difficulty  in  seeing  the  connection  be- 
tween arithmetic  and  algebra.  If  there  is  to  be  a  relating 
of  the  two  sciences  of  arithmetic  and  algebra,  the  teacher 
must  see  to  it  that  the  relation  is  worked  out  explicitly  for 
the  student. 


108     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

RELATIONS  OP  ALGEBRA 

Algebra  has  other  relations  than  the  relation  to  arith- 
metic. Conspicuous,  and  important  for  our  study,  is  the 
relation  of  algebra  to  geometry.  For  the  practical  teacher 
the  relation  of  algebra  to  applications  in  industry  and  sci- 
ence is  of  equal  importance.  These  special  relations  deserve 
full  consideration,  and  will  be  taken  up  in  a  separate  chap- 
ter. For  the  present  we  shall  be  content  with  the  account 
which  has  been  given  of  the  number  idea  and  the  process 
of  abstraction  seen  in  algebra,  and  shall  turn  to  a  brief 
study  of  algebra  texts. 

COMPARISON  OF  ALGEBRA   TEXTBOOKS 

The  analysis  of  algebra  which  has  been  presented  in  the 
foregoing  pages  can  be  applied  to  some  of  the  particular 
problems  of  teaching  this  subject  by  contrasting  two  text- 
books—  one  from  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 1  before  the 
present-day  high-school  curriculum  had  developed,  and  one2 
from  the  present  period,  during  which  every  high-school 
subject  is  being  carefully  revised. 

SIMILARITY  OF  TOPICS  TREATED 

The  order  of  subjects  in  these  two  treatises  is  surprisingly 
alike.  Indeed,  the  authors  of  the  later  book  point  out  that 
they  have  followed  the  traditional  order  of  treatment  of 
topics.  The  fact  that  the  traditional  order  of  treatment  has 
been  maintained,  in  spite  of  the  most  careful  revisions,  indi- 
cates how  completely  the  situation,  up  to  this  time,  has 

1  Horatio  N.  Robinson,  New  Elementary  Algebra.   Copyrighted  1859. 
Preface  of  new  edition,  1875.    Ivison,  Blakeinan,  Taylor  and  Company. 

2  H.  E.  Hawkes,  W.  A.  Luby,  and  F.  C.  Teuton,  First  Course  in 
Algebra.     Ginn  and  Company,  1909. 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  109 

been  dominated  by  the  logical  structure  of  the  science. 
The  newer  book  differs  from  the  old  book,  however,  in  the 
fact  that  there  are  interspersed,  throughout  the  text,  chap- 
ters on  the  equation.  In  these  chapters  the  abstract  proc- 
esses are  directly  applied  to  the  solution  of  problems.  Thus, 
in  the  new  book,  after  a  chapter  on  the  process  of  addition, 
there  is  a  chapter  on  simple  equations.  In  the  older  book 
equations  were  not  taken  up  until  all  of  the  processes  of 
addition,  subtraction,  multiplication,  and  division  had  been 
explained.  Indeed,  in  the  older  book  not  only  were  these 
processes  explained  and  exemplified  with  integers,  but  they 
were  also  applied  to  fractions  before  the  student  was  brought 
to  the  use  of  the  processes  in  the  solution  of  equations 
and  problems.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  more  recent 
book  has,  in  its  free  use  of  problems  and  equations,  furnished 
the  student  with  a  means  of  developing  his  ideas  of  the 
fundamental  processes.  To  go  through  half  a  book  on  a 
subject  with  nothing  but  abstract  examples  of  the  processes 
that  are  to  be  used  later  is  a  great  tax  upon  the  interest 
and  attention  of  the  student.  The  change  which  has  been 
introduced  is  undoubtedly  of  value  in  building  up  and 
maintaining  the  student's  insight  and  interest. 

EMPHASIS  ox  SPACE  MATERIAL  IN  THE  NEWER  BOOK 

In  the  second  place,  the  modern  book  contains  certain 
topics  which  are  entirely  absent  from  the  earlier  book.  There 
are  a  number  of  chapters  in  the  new  book  on  graphic  meth- 
ods and  on  equations  that  deal  with  space  and  its  different 
relations.  This  emphasis  upon  space  is  in  the  interest  of 
application  of  the  science  of  algebra  and  also  in  the  interest  of 
clearness  of  presentation  of  the  various  algebraic  processes 
studied.  The  student  gets  an  idea  from  seeing  a  graphic 
representation  of  an  equation  which  he  never  could  get  in 
the  same  vivid  way  if  the  matter  were  discussed  wholly  in 


110     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

abstract  terms.  This  disposition  to  show  the  student  con- 
crete facts  related  to  algebraic  equations  is  one  of  the  most 
important  innovations  that  has  been  made  in  the  presenta- 
tion of  mathematical  sciences  to  secondary-school  students. 
Algebra  is  remote  from  the  ordinary  subjects  of  real  ex- 
perience ;  consequently,  the  discovery  that  space  is  at  the 
same  time  a  direct  concrete  experience  and  a  means  of 
expressing  abstract  relations  is  important  to  the  teacher 
who  is  looking  for  some  kind  of  experience  which  can 
always  be  used  in  explaining  and  applying  algebra.  Space 
is  such  material.  In  the  older  book  there  is  very  little  ref- 
erence to  geometrical  facts.  To  be  sure,  in  dealing  with 
negative  quantities  one  finds  spatial  facts  in  the  older  book. 
There  are  examples  about  distances  to  the  north  and 
south  which  illustrate  the  fact  that  the  direction  in  which 
one  moves  is  quite  as  important  as  the  distance  through 
which  he  passes;  but  in  the  newer  book  this  geometrical 
fact  is  used  not  merely  in  examples,  it  is  used  as  the  best 
and  most  direct  means  of  explaining  the  meaning  of  posi- 
tive and  negative  quantities.  The  principles  of  algebraic 
subtraction  and  addition  are  expounded  in  the  newer  book 
in  terms  of  the  straight  line  along  which  the  student  may 
move  in  two  directions  and  along  which  he  may  pass  from 
zero  to  positive  or  negative  quantities.  The  exposition  of 
the  matter  in  the  new  book  is  vivid  and  definite,  whereas 
in  the  old  book  the  exposition  was  very'  abstract.  The 
reader  will  not  overlook  in  this  connection  the  fact  that 
space  is  well  suited  to  this  relation  with  algebraic  processes 
because  of  its  own  character. 

MANY  EXAMPLES  AND  EXPLANATIONS 

A  third  characteristic  of  the  new  book  as  contrasted  with 
the  older  book  is  the  appearance  of  more  exercises  for  the 
student  to  work  out  Furthermore,  these  exercises  begin  in 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  111 

each  section  with  very  simple  examples,  many  of  which  are 
drawn  directly  from  arithmetic.  In  this  respect  the  two 
books  agree-;  but  the  larger  number  of  exercises  makes  it 
possible  to  develop  gradually  the  transition  through  which 
the  student  must  pass  from  simple  number  statements  to  the 
abstract  statements  of  the  higher,  algebraical  type.  In  the 
older  book  this  transition  is  often  abrupt,  leaving  the  stu- 
dent hi  the  dark  as  to  the  motive  for  giving  up  the  number 
for  the  literal  expression. 

The  newer  book  indicates  a  tendency  to  recognize  the 
needs  of  the  student,  in  that  it  expounds  somewhat  more 
fully  the  different  processes  through  which  the  student  is 
passed.  Thus,  when  a  new  paragraph  is  introduced,  the  text 
itself  shows  the  student  why  he  should  take  the  steps  that 
are  described  in  the  rule  which  is  to  be  presented.  This 
elaborate  effort  to  explain  the  processes  to  the  student 
helps  him  to  guide  himself.  The  book  becomes  more  and 
more  useful  as  a  teacher.  The  work  of  the  classroom  is  also 
facilitated  by  the  fact  that  more  of  the  fundamental  expla- 
nations can  be  comprehended  by  the  student  in  private  study. 

SIGNIFICANT  OMISSIONS  IN  THE  NEWER  BOOK 

Finally,  the  newer  book  omits  some  of  the  more  elaborate 
topics  which  were  contained  in  the  older  book.  Indeed,  the 
tendency  of  algebras  in  recent  years  has  been  to  eliminate 
those  topics  which  are  useful  merely  for  the  student  of  the 
theoretical  processes.  For  example,  there  is  no  attention  to 
equations  with  many  unknown  quantities,  and  there  is  little 
or  no  attention  to  powers  above  the  cube.  The  extracting 
of  roots  for  higher  powers  is  omitted.  Doubtless  the  prac- 
tice of  teachers  who  used  the  older  book  was  much  of  the 
same  type  as  that  now  followed  in  the  more  recent  book. 
The  fact  that  a  subject  was  included  in  the  older  textbooks 
does  not  necessarily  indicate  that  it  was  actually  dealt  with 


112     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

in  class  exercises.  There  can,  however,  be  no  doubt,  even 
after  deducting  somewhat  from  the  formidable  character 
of  the  older  course,  that  the  modern  course  in  algebra  has 
been  materially  simplified. 

ARITHMETIC  AND  ALGEBRA 

Some  further  considerations  are  suggested  by  the  items 
in  the  preface  of  the  later  book.  The  authors  write  (p.  iii), 
"  Constant  reference  has  been  made  to  arithmetic  in  explain- 
ing the  various  algebraic  processes."  The  student  is  often 
more  confused  than  helped  by  reference  to  arithmetic.  The 
reason  for  this  is  explained  in  an  earlier  paragraph,  where 
the  analysis  of  the  mental  processes  involved  in  the  two 
subjects  led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  distinction  between 
arithmetic  and  algebra  is  quite  as  important  to  impress 
upon  the  student  as  the  relation  between  the  two.  We 
find  that  the  necessity  has  been  recognized  from  time  to 
time  of  pointing  out  the  distinction  between  the  arithmeti- 
cal processes  and  the  algebraic  processes.  For  example, 
on  page  4  there  is  evidently  an  effort  to  help  the  student 
to  understand  the  value  of  the  abstract  symbols.  He  is  told 
that  symbols  enable  one  "  to  abbreviate  ordinary  language." 
Furthermore,  he  is  led  gradually  to  see  that  symbols  can 
be  even  more  general  and  abstract  than  those  which  are 
used  in  arithmetic,  but  this  last  statement  is  not  as  explicit 
as  it  might  be  made. 

Indeed,  as  one  reads  books  on  algebra  he  wonders  that 
mathematicians  have  not  taken  more  complete  advantage  of 
the  possibility  of  distinguishing  sharply  for  the  student  be- 
tween arithmetic  and  algebra.  If  algebra  is  nothing  but  the 
last  chapter  of  arithmetic,  as  the  student  would  naturally 
assume  from  many  of  the  statements  which  are  made  in  the 
text,  why  was  algebra  not  introduced  in  the  arithmetic 
books  themselves  ?  There  is  some  tendency  to  take  algebra 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  113 

down  into  the  elementary  classes.  If  this  tendency  is  to 
grow,  would  it  not  be  well  to  point  out  explicitly  to  stu- 
dents the  economy  of  this  mode  of  treating  mathematical 
operations?  The  distinction  between  algebra  and  arith- 
metic is  quite  as  significant  to  the  elementary  student  as  it 
is  to  the  mature  student  of  the  subject,  and  this  distinction 
may  advantageously  be  brought  out.  For  example,  on  page 
7  in  the  book  in  hand  the  statement  is  made,  "  In  algebra 
numbers  are  represented  by  one  or  more  numerals  or  let- 
ters or  by  both  combined."  Would  it  not  be  better  at  such  a 
point  as  this  to  indicate  that  not  only  numbers  but  whole 
series  of  numbers  are  expressed  by  the  letters  ?  In  the 
next  paragraph,  for  example,  it  is  said : 

Precisely  what  numbers  4  xy  and  2  x  +  3  represent  is  not 
known  until  the  numbers  for  which  x  and  y  stand  are  known. 
In  one  problem  these  symbols  may  have  values  quite  different 
from  those  they  have  in  another.  To  devise  methods  of  deter- 
mining these  values  in  the  various  problems  which  arise  is  the 
principal  aim  of  algebra. 

This  is  the  opportunity  to  tell  the  student  that  the  chief 
business  of  algebra  is  to  avoid  determining  from  step  to 
step  the  exact  values  of  these  different  symbols.  It  is  the 
business  of  this  science  to  carry  on  the  reasoning  processes 
with  the  symbols  in  the  most  general  form  possible.  The 
final  discovery  of  a  particular  quantity  is  of  less  interest 
to  the  science  of  algebra  than  the  correct  manipulation  of 
quantities  in  processes  which  may  ultimately  lead  to  results, 
but  are  capable  of  study  long  before  the  result  is  obtained. 
To  describe  the  processes  of  algebra  as  though  they  were 
similar  to  those  of  arithmetic  is  to  confuse  the  student. 
He  gets  the  impression  that  the  use  of  letters  is  another 
refinement  of  the  teacher's  methods  of  giving  him  unneces- 
sary problems  to  solve.  It  would  be  much  more  psychologi- 
cal and  helpful  for  the  teacher  to  let  the  student  understand 


114     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

that  he  is  now  acquiring  a  new  and  more  general  mode  of  ma- 
nipulating quantities.  As  he  studies  the  science  of  algebra  he 
must  aim  to  criticize  processes  and  results  not  from  the  point 
of  view  merely  of  the  ends  which  are  to  be  obtained,  but  also 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  methods  which  he  adopts  at 
every  step. 

APPLICATIONS 

One  further  comment  in  the  preface  of  the  newer  book 
is  of  interest : 

Some  informational  problems  have  been  included,  but  wholly 
with  the  intention  of  stimulating  interest  and  not  with  the 
idea  that  such  problems  are  practical,  or  that  they  arise  in 
everyday  life,  or  that  it  is  the  function  of  algebra  to  teach 
history,  geography,  or  other  subjects. 

This  tendency  to  include  in  the  problems  facts  of  ordinary 
experience  appears  also  in  the  older  books.  There  evidently 
has  been  all  along  some  desire  to  make  algebra  seem  to  the 
student  to  have  connection  with  concrete  life.  The  artifi- 
ciality of  many  of  these  problems  is,  however,  very  strik- 
ing. For  example,  on  page  38  we  get  such  an  example  as 
this :  "  The  combined  horse  power  of  a  Mallet  Compound 
freight  engine  (Erie  Railroad),  of  a  Pacific  passenger  en- 
gine (Pennsylvania  Railroad),  and  of  a  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
electric  tractor,"  and  so  on.  Imagine  the  student  trying 
to  get  from  this  kind  of  a  problem  any  inspiration  for  his 
science.  There  is  very  little  wonder  that  writers  on  mathe- 
matics find  themselves  in  difficulty  with  problems  of  appli- 
cation when  this  sort  of  thing  is  developed  in  the  minds  of 
teachers  as  a  means  of  showing  students  the  interesting  side 
of  the  science.  The  student  knows  perfectly  well  that  these 
three  engines  will  never  get  together  for  purposes  of  real  co- 
operation. He  knows  that  the  use  of  these  different  names 
is  merely  a  device  to  make  him  readjust  the  problem  in 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  115 

algebraic  terms.  He  will  have  to  convert  engine  No.  1 
into  letter  a  and  engine  No.  2  into  letter  6,  and  so  on,  be- 
fore he  can  go  through  the  ordinary  algebraic  processes. 
This  translation  from  one  set  of  terms  into  another  is,  on  the 
whole,  good  training  for  the  student  who  has  to  use  the 
abstract  terms,  but  he  cannot  help  feeling  the  artificial 
character  of  the  original  statement  which  is  supposed  to  be 
nearer  to  practical  life  than  the  letters  which  he  employs. 
The  situation  is  bad  because  there  are  materials  which  are 
capable  of  employment  in  algebra  borrowed  directly  from 
the  sciences  and  so  real  and  significant  that  they  avoid  all 
the  artificiality  of  examples  like  the  one  just  cited.  The 
trouble  is  that  algebra  is  usually  taught  at  a  time  in  the 
high  school  when  examples  from  the  sciences  cannot  be 
readily  borrowed.  In  this  connection  note  that  our  authors 
make  this  statement  (p.  iv) : 

A  large  number  of  "motion"  problems  are  given  which,  with 
many  problems  based  on  physical  ideas  and  physical  formu- 
las, should  give  much  desirable  correlation  with  the  subject  of 
physics.  A  very  large  number  of  problems  are  based  on  geo- 
metrical ideas,  and  as  the  needs  of  geometry  largely  decided 
the  choice  of  the  exercises  in  radicals,  it  is  hoped  that  a  close 
correlation  of  algebra  with  geometry  has  been  secured. 

Why  should  not  material  of  this  sort,  which  is  perfectly 
natural  and  legitimate,  be  used  to  the  exclusion  of  the  arti- 
ficial problems  that  have  really  no  connection  with  either 
science  or  life  ?  If  necessary,  let  us  precede  the  algebra 
problems  by  an  explanation  of  these  phenomena  which  can 
be  adequately  dealt  with  by  algebraic  methods.  It  may 
prove  to  be  wise  for  us  to  develop  some  simple  notion  of 
mechanics  in  the  first  years  of  the  high  school  and  postpone 
algebra  to  a  later  period.  In  an  earlier  historical  introduc- 
tion to  this  discussion  the  reasons  have  been  suggested  why 
a  postponement  of  algebra  would,  on  the  whole,  be  very 
legitimate.  In  any  case  space  is  evidently  from  now  on  to 


116     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

be  used,  even  if  algebra  stays  in  the  first  year ;  the  device 
which  the  modern  author  has  adopted,  of  introducing  graphs 
as  a  part  of  the  algebra  course,  will  help  to  cure  in  a 
measure  the  abstractness  of  the  algebra  course. 

OBSERVATIONS  IN  AN  ALGEBRA  CLASS 

Before  attempting  any  discussion  of  the  conclusions  to 
be  drawn  from  our  studies,  let  us  turn  to  a  brief  study 
of  students  and  their  work  in  class.  Observations  made  on 
students  who  are  attempting  to  solve  problems  in  algebra 
always  make  the  layman  wonder  what  the  writers  on  math- 
ematics mean  by  the  repeated  assertion  that  algebra  is  easier 
than  geometry.  Probably  the  assertion  is  correct  when 
some  of  the  simpler  formulas  of  algebra  are  compared  with 
the  later  propositions  in  geometry,  but  such  a  comparison 
is  obviously  without  value.  Certainly  when  one  comes  to 
the  more  complex  problems  in  algebra,  there  is  so  much  of 
a  demand  upon  the  powers  of  abstraction,  and  so  much  con- 
fusion which  can  arise  from  the  many  steps  which  need  to 
be  taken  in  solving  a  problem,  that  one  understands  very 
readily  why  students  fail  in  this  course. 

GREAT  VARIETY  OF  MENTAL  PROCESSES  OBSERVED 

For  the  purpose  of  getting  material  that  should  parallel 
the  observations  made  in  the  class  in  geometry,  the  writer 
attended  a  class  in  which  the  students  were  factoring  and 
using  the  methods  of  factoring  to  solve  equations.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  class  they  factored  some  compound  frac- 
tions and  reduced  them  to  simpler  forms ;  toward  the  end 
of  the  class  they  factored  certain  equations  and  found  the 
roots  of  the  equations.  In  all  these  cases  it  was  evident 
that  the 'solution  of  the  single  problem  involved  a  number  of 
different  operations,  and  the  successive  operations  involved 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  117 

references  to  many  principles  of  mathematical  manipulation 
which  the  student  had  to  use  correctly  or  he  was  in  trouble 
later.  Thus,  in  clearing  a  compound  fraction  he  must  first 
discover  a  common  denominator  for  the  fractional  elements. 
Second,  he  must  multiply  each  fraction  by  the  factor  which 
would  reduce  it  to  the  common  denominator.  This  involved 
a  knowledge  of  all  the  principles  of  division  and  multipli- 
cation, including  the  correct  manipulation  of  signs. 

ABSENCE  OF  CONCRETE  CHECKS 

Furthermore,  each  step  is  an  abstract  step ;  that  is,  it  is 
not  guided  by  any  observable  starting  point  or  any  refer- 
ence to  a  conclusion  which  can  be  seen  and  anticipated. 
This  characteristic  of  algebraic  operations  may  be  made 
more  obvious  by  contrasting  algebra  with  geometry.  When 
one  is  solving  a  problem  in  geometry  he  knows  that  he  is 
working  with  triangles  or  with  rectangles  and  he  can  con- 
stantly come  back  in  the  development  of  his  reasoning  to 
the  concrete  space  figure  with  which  he  is  dealing.  In  alge- 
bra, on  the  other  hand,  the  successive  stages  of  the  process 
are  not  referred  back  to  any  concrete  experience ;  the  second 
step  leaves  the  first  behind,  having  substituted  for  the  first 
situation  a  relatively  new  set  of  facts.  In  like  manner  the 
third  stage  leaves  the  second  behind.  The  whole  reasoning 
process  is  thus  carried  on  without  any  concrete  point  of 
reference.  Sometimes,  in  order  to  meet  this  situation,  the 
instructor  calls  upon  the  students  to  write  out  each  step 
completely.  The  advantage  of  writing  out  each  step  is 
evidently  this:  it  makes  it  easier  for  the  student  to  see 
his  way  through  the  succession  of  processes.  He  can  com- 
pare the  result  which  he  has  reached  at  the  end  of  the  first 
step  with  the  requirements,  and  then  he  can  proceed  to  the 
second  step  with  some  degree  of  assurance.  This  writing 
out  of  each  individual  step  is,  however,  very  cumbersome ; 


118     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

and  instructor  and  students  alike  realize  the  possibility  of 
curtailing  the  work  by  carrying  on  some  of  these  processes 
in  the  mind,  rather  than  working  them  out  completely  and 
recording  them  on  the  blackboard  or  paper.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  one  of  these  steps  is  performed  mentally,  there  is 
grave  danger  that  the  result  obtained  will  not  be  reliable  for 
the  next  stage  of  reasoning.  Every  algebra  class  furnishes 
abundant  illustrations  of  the  uncertainty  of  a  conclusion 
which  is  reached  through  a  series  of  unrecorded  mental 
operations.  There  is,  therefore,  a  constant  conflict  between 
certainty  and  precision  of  procedure,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
rapidity  and  economy  of  effort,  on  the  other. 

In  the  second  place,  a  process  of  reasoning  may  be  cor- 
rect in  itself,  but  may  not  help  in  reaching  the  final  solu- 
tion, because  it  leads  in  the  wrong  direction.  For  example, 
if  one  is  rearranging  an  algebraical  quantity  for  the  pur- 
poses of  factoring,  he  may  rearrange  it  in  such  a  way  that 
he  cannot  easily  extricate  himself  from  the  new  form  in 
which  he  has  cast  his  expression.  He  may  get  his  quanti- 
ties on  the  wrong  side  of  the  equation  in  such  a  way  that 
it  will  not  be  easy  to  factor  them ;  or  he  may  get  all  of  his 
quantities  on  one  side  of  the  equation  where  their  negative 
character  will  confuse,  whereas  if  he  had  assembled  them 
on  the  other  side  of  the  equation,  the  proper  quantities  would 
have  been  positive.  Very  frequently  there  is  a  single  addi- 
tional operation  (if  one  thinks  of  it)  which  will  extricate 
him  from  these  difficulties,  but  more  often  one  must  turn 
back  and  begin  over.  One  is  required,  therefore,  to  look  ahead 
as  intelligently  as  he  can.  He  must  take  the  step  which  he  is 
taking  at  the  present  moment  with  a  view  to  following  it 
up  by  a  second  and  third  productive  step  later.  This  con- 
stant effort  to  anticipate  the  consequences  of  one's  reason- 
ing requires  a  range  of  attention  which  is  not  required  in 
the  geometrical  processes  in  the  same  degree,  or  if  it  is 
required  in  the  geometrical  process,  it  is  always  supported 


NUMBEK  AND  ABSTRACTION  119 

by  a  much  more  concrete  view  of  the  end  toward  which 
one  is  working.  One  knows  in  geometry  something  about 
the  theorem  which  he  has  to  demonstrate.  He  does  not 
know  in  the  same  concrete  way  in  a  problem  in  algebra 
the  conclusion  toward  which  he  is  working.  There  is  there- 
fore at  the  moment  no  immediate  check  which  will  guide 
him  in  arranging  his  quantities. 

CONFUSION  ARISING  FROM  ABSENCE  OF  CHECKS 

This  last  statement  helps  us  to  appreciate  what  is  meant 
by  students  when  they  say  that  they  do  not  know  what  to 
do  next.  They  can  do  something  that  would  be  entirely 
correct,  but  they  feel  very  sure  that  correctness  is  not  all 
that  is  wanted.  What  they  do  not  know  is  how  to  proceed 
in  such  a  way  as  to  aid  themselves  in  reaching  a  solution 
of  the  problem.  There  is  an  element  of  guesswork  in  the 
solution  of  an  algebra  problem  which  is  very  confusing  to 
a  student,  especially  if  he  is  carried  forward  in  the  course 
too  rapidly.  This  type  of  confusion  is  so  common  in  algebra 
that  it  explains  many  of  the  failures  in  this  subject.  How 
an  instructor  knows,  or  how  some  other  member  of  the  class 
knows,  just  how  to  proceed  is  a  mystery  to  the  student 
who  is  not  able  to  see  far  enough  ahead  to  determine  how 
he  ought  to  proceed.  Factoring,  for  example,  is  all  right  as 
soon  as  one  gets  the  quantities  put  together  in  a  recogniz- 
able form,  but  the  ingenuity  which  textbooks  and  instructors 
seem  to  be  able  to  exhibit  in  putting  quantities  together  in 
such  a  way  that  they  will  not  be  recognizable  as  familiar 
quantities  for  factoring  is  baffling  to  the  ordinary  student. 
It  would  be  interesting  for  some  teacher  of  the  subject  who 
is  also  interested  in  the  mental  processes  of  his  students  to 
try  to  enumerate  the  different  ways  in  which  students  may 
be  right  in  the  single  operations  which  they  perform,  and 
yet  wrong  in  their  solution  of  the  problem  as  a  whole. 


120     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

In  addition  to  the  possibilities  described  in  the  last  para- 
graph of  going  astray  in  the  manipulations,  there  are  infinite 
possibilities  of  actual  error.  One  forgets  how  to  remove 
a  parenthesis  or  how  to  transpose  quantities,  or,  through 
carelessness,  omits  to  apply  the  principle  which  he  knows 
well  enough  in  theory.  The  teacher  of  algebra  is  constantly 
working,  therefore,  to  keep  alive  and  in  operation  a  long 
list  of  principles  of  operation  which  students  are  constantly 
omitting.  The  omission  means  an  error,  and  an  error  means 
failure  to  reach  a  solution. 

EXAMPLES  OF  TYPICAL  DIFFICULTIES 

The  observations  made  in  a  single  period  exemplified  all 
of  the  difficulties  described  above.  Perhaps  the  most  vivid 
presentation  of  the  observations  will  result  from  an  enumer- 
ation of  errors  ;  that  is,  of  the  principles  that  were  omitted  or 
violated.  The  list  would  probably  be  longer  if-  the  writer 
had  been  more  expert  in  this  type  of  observation.  He 
noted,  however,  the  following  cases.  The  students  often 
failed  to  keep  in  mind  a  long  series  of  principles  necessary 
to  guide  in  manipulating  the  signs  of  different  quantities. 
They  forgot  that  a  negative  sign  before  a  parenthesis  works 
certain  changes  in  the  quantity  within  the  parenthesis. 
They  lost  sight  of  the  effect  produced  upon  signs  by  trans- 
position from  one  side  of  the  equation  to  the  other.  An- 
other type  of  error  arose  from  a  failure  to  keep  in  mind  the 
processes  which  control  the  different  combinations  of  quan- 
tities. They  made  repeated  mistakes  in  addition,  subtraction, 
multiplication,  and  division.  Again,  they  did  not  see  the 
various  familiar  combinations  which  make  it  possible  to  get 
rid  of  undesirable  quantities  on  both  sides  of  the  equation. 
They  did  not  always  remember  that  the  management  of  the 
two  sides  of  an  equation  or  of  the  two  members  of  a  frac- 
tional expression  calls  for  a  like  treatment  of  both  of  the 


NUMBER  AND  ABSTRACTION  121 

elements  in  the  operation.  They  committed  an  error  of 
omission  in  that  they  did  not  show  the  boldness  to  try 
experiments  in  the  rearrangement  of  quantities.  They  were, 
not  patient  enough  to  work  out  this  rearrangement  until 
they  could  see  ahead  a  method  of  getting  a  conclusion. 
Their  hesitation  was  evidently  due  in  some  cases  to  a  rec- 
ognition of  the  fact  that  if  they  eliminated  some  of  the: 
quantities  they  might  lose  just  the  one  needed  to  turn  their 
factors  into  the  familiar  factors  needed  for  later  manipula- 
tion. They  frequently  made  the  error  of  trying  to  economize 
by  carrying  on  processes  mentally  when  the  more  deliberate 
written  statement  of  the  same  problem  showed  that  they 
knew  the  principle  of  procedure. 

METHOD  MUST  BE  ADAPTED  TO  PARTICULAR 
DIFFICULTIES 

Perhaps  some  reader  of  the  foregoing  paragraph  will  ask, 
What  is  the  use  of  laboriously  cataloguing  all  these  different 
types  of  error?  They  are  all  alike,  in  that  they  show  inability 
to  solve  the  problem.  Give  the  erring  student  more  exam- 
ples ;  that  is  the  one  and  only  cure  for  all  these  difficulties. 
Our  answer  to  such  a  comment  is  that  the  cure  is  not  one 
and  simple.  The  student  of  algebra  is  often  lost  in  the  maze 
of  complexities.  At  each  turn  he  is  confronted  by  a  single 
difficulty.  His  difficulties  need  to  be  disentangled,  and  one 
by  one  the  kinds  of  processes  which  he  needs  must  be 
picked  out  and  definitely  dealt  with.  If  some  teacher  of 
algebra  would  make  out  a  card  catalogue  of  the  kinds  of 
mental  processes  involved  in  the  solution  of  all  algebra 
problems,  and  would  then  arrange  his  subject  matter  to 
meet  these  difficulties,  he  would  probably  break  away  from 
the  traditional  order  of  that  subject  more  than  any  of  the 
textbooks  have  ventured  even  in  the  latest  period.  He 
would  also  give  to  the  subject  an  educational  character 


122     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

which  it  does  not  now  have.  At  present  we  let  students 
flounder  in  a  sea  of  mental  difficulties  until  some  learn  to 
swim  and  many  drown.  We  tell  them  from  time  to  time 
when  they  are  going  down,  and  sometimes  we  rescue  them 
when  we  see  them  sinking,  but  we  have  little  advice  for 
them  in  regard  to  the  best  methods  of  swimming.  Our 
algebra  instruction  is  on  the  whole  a  crude  exhibition  of 
the  method  of  "  try,  try  again,"  when  it  ought  to  be  the 
most  completely  supervised  of  any  of  the  subjects,  espe- 
cially if  it  is  to  continue  to  hold  its  place  as  a  subject 
commonly  required. 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  MATHEMATICS 

REORGANIZATION  EVIDENTLY  UNDER  WAY 

In  a  vigorous  paper  Superintendent  Morrison 1  has  re- 
cently advocated  the  complete  rearrangement  of  high-school 
mathematics.  Algebra  and  geometry,  he  contends,  must  be 
taught  (if  at  all)  so  as  to  function  throughout  the  student's 
lif e.  If  the  student  is  especially  interested  in  commerce, 
his  mathematics  must  be  so  organized  as  to  contribute  to  his 
practical  training.  If  the  student  is  pursuing  agriculture,  his 
mathematics  are  to  be  of  a  type  which  shall  serve  that  interest. 

Other  evidences  are  not  wanting  that  high-school  math- 
ematics are  approaching  a  period  of  radical  revision.  There 
is  evidence  which,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  school 
administrator,  is  of  a  very  practical  type.  Statistics  show 
that  in  the  more  progressive  high  schools  algebra  is  reced-, 
ing  to  a  position  of  less  importance  than  it  formerly  held.2 
The  colleges  are  requiring  less  mathematics  than  ever  for 
admission ;  and  the  individual  student  who  fails  is  becom- 
ing more  insistent  than  ever  that  he  be  allowed  to  go  on 
with  other  subjects. 

SUPERVISED  STUDY 

In  the  meantime,  two  experiments  are  under  way  which 
promise  relief,  and  to  these  we  turn  for  their  contribution 
to  our  psychology. 

1  Thirteenth  Yearbook  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Study  of  Edu- 
cation, pp.  9-31.    University  of  Chicago  Press. 

2  Science,  1912,  N.8.,  Vol.  XXXVI,  pp.  687-690. 

123 


124    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

The  first  experiment  is  in  the  direction  of  more  super- 
vision of  study  by  the  teacher.1  Students  are  not  being  sent 
home  with  problems  to  solve ;  they  are  working  out  the 
problems  in  class  with  the  teacher.  The  mistakes  which 
they  make  are  being  checked  through  social  criticism. 

The  value  of  social  criticism  as  an  instrument  in  educa- 
tion cannot  be  exaggerated.  To  be  sure,  there  is  something 
artificial  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  science  itself  in 
interposing  between  a  student  and  the  solution  of  his 
problem  criticism  by  another  person.  For  example,  when 
the  teacher  says,  "Be  careful,  have  you  removed  that  paren- 
thesis correctly  ?  "  the  scientific  training  of  the  student  has 
been  so  far  forth  interrupted  that  a  human  check  has  been 
substituted  for  a  check  of  the  strictly  algebraic  type.  If 
the  child  becomes  dependent  on  social  help  in  the  solution 
of  all  his  problems,  the  substitution  of  social  training  for 
independent  learning  may  become  a  serious  drawback.  On 
the  other  hand,  learning  through  proper  supervision  is  eco- 
nomical and  rapid  beyond  all  other  methods. 

Psychologically,  social  interference  in  mental  processes 
is  of  various  types.  There  is  social  interference  which 
terrorizes  and  distracts.  There  is  social  interference  which 
aids  one  over  a  difficulty  without  clearing  up  the  difficulty. 
There  is  social  interference  which  teaches  deliberation. 
There  is  social  interference  which  makes  for  economy  in 
mental  operations  by  pointing  out  methods  of  procedure. 
In  short,  there  is  a  whole  psychology  of  the  relation  between 
student  and  teacher.  This  is  not  the  point  at  which  this 
particular  psychological  problem  can  be  discussed  at  length ; 
but  it  is  germane  to  the  present  discussion  to  note  that  the 
right  kind  of  supervision  or  social  cooperation  cannot  be 
expected  unless  teachers  study  the  problem  of  how  students 
study,  and  how  they  ought  to  study.  We  shall  come  back 

1  Article  by  E.  R.  Breslich  in  Thirteenth  Yearbook  of  the  National 
Society  for  the  Study  of  Education,  pp.  32-72. 


THE  KEORGANIZATION  OF  MATHEMATICS     125 

to  a  fuller  discussion  of  methods  of  study  in  a  later  chapter 
devoted  entirely  to  this  problem.  The  student  needs  help 
in  algebra  more  than  in  most  subjects,  because  the  mental 
process.es  involved  in  this  study  are  so  abstract  and  com- 
plex that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  find  one's  way  without 
much  guidance. 

One  reciprocal  advantage  of  such  a  system  of  supervised 
study  is  that  the  teacher  discovers  the  details  of  students' 
mental  processes  more  fully  than  under  the  usual  conditions 
of  recitation  work.  Errors  are  corrected  before  they  become 
chronic,  and  the  waste  that  follows  upon  confusion  is  avoided. 

SMITH  ON  APPLIED  AND  COMBINED  MATHEMATICS 

A  second  type  of  reorganization  reaches  into  the  subject 
itself  and  undertakes  to  reorganize  the  matter  dealt  with 
in  these  courses.  Of  the  various  internal  reforms  within 
the  mathematics  courses  there  are  two  which  have  gone  far 
enough  to  attract  adverse  criticism.  We  may  therefore 
quote  at  length  the  passages  in  which  these  matters  are 
discussed  by  Professor  Smith. 

[P.  74]  And  as  to  the  exercises,  what  is  the  basis  of  selec- 
tion ?  In  general,  let  it  be  said  that  any  exercise  that  pretends 
to  be  real  should  be  so,  and  that  words  taken  from  science  or 
measurements  do  not  necessarily  make  the  problem  genuine. 
To  take  a  proposition  and  apply  it  in  a  manner  that  the  world 
never  sanctions  is  to  indulge  in  deceit.  On  the  other  hand, 
wholly  to  neglect  the  common  applications  of  geometry  to  hand- 
work of  various  kinds  is  to  miss  one  of  our  great  opportunities  to 
make  the  subject  vital  to  the  pupil,  to  arouse  new  interest,  and 
to  give  a  meaning  to  it  that  is  otherwise  wanting.  It  should 
always  be  remembered  that  mental  discipline,  whatever  the 
phrase  may  mean,  can  as  readily  be  obtained  from  a  genuine 
application  of  a  theorem  as  from  a  mere  geometric  puzzle.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  evident  that  not  more  than  25  per  cent  of 
propositions  have  any  genuine  applications  outside  of  geometry, 


126     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

and  that  if  we  are  to  attempt  any  applications  at  all,  these 
must  be  sought  mainly  in  the  field  of  pure  geometry.  In  the 
exercises,  therefore,  we  seek  to-day  a  sane  and  a  balanced  book, 
giving  equal  weight  to  theory  and  to  practice,  to  the  demands 
of  the  artisan  and  to  those  of  the  mathematician,  to  the  appli- 
cations of  concrete  science  and  to  those  of  pure  geometry,  thus 
making  a  fusion  of  pure  and  applied  mathematics,  with  the 
latter  as  prominent  as  the  supply  of  genuine  problems  permits. 

[Pp.  84,  85]  From  the  standpoint  of  theory  there  is  or 
need  be  no  relation  whatever  between  algebra  and  geometry. 
Algebra  was  originally  the  science  of  the  equation,  as  its  name 
indicates.  This  means  that  it  was  the  science  of  finding  the 
value  of  an  unknown  quantity  in  a  statement  of  equality. 
Later  it  came  to  mean  much  more  than  this,  and  Newton  spoke 
of  it  as  universal  arithmetic,  and  wrote  an  algebra  with  this 
title.  At  present  the  term  is  applied  to  the  elements  of  a 
science  in  which  numbers  are  represented  by  letters  and  in 
which  certain  functions  are  studied,  functions  which  it  is  not 
necessary  to  specify  at  this  time.  The  work  relates  chiefly  to 
functions  involving  the  idea  of  number.  In  geometry,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  work  relates  chiefly  to  form.  Indeed,  in  pure 
geometry  number  plays  practically  no  part,  while  in  pure 
algebra  form  plays  practically  no  part. 

In  1637  the  great  French  philosopher,  Descartes,  wishing  to 
picture  certain  algebraic  functions,  wrote  a  work  of  about  a 
hundred  pages,  entitled  "  La  Geometric,"  and  in  this  he  showed 
a  correspondence  between  the  numbers  of  algebra  (which  may 
be  expressed  by  letters)  and  the  concepts  of  geometry.  This 
was  the  first  great  step  in  the  analytic  geometry  that  finally 
gave  us  the  graph  in  algebra.  Since  then  there  have  been 
brought  out  from  time  to  time  other  analogies  between  algebra 
and  geometry,  always  to  the  advantage  of  each  science.  This 
has  led  to  a  desire  on  the  part  of  some  teachers  to  unite  algebra 
and  geometry  into  one  science,  having  simply  a  class  in 
mathematics  without  these  special  names. 

It  is  well  to  consider  the  advantages  and  the  disadvantages 
of  such  a  plan,  and  to  decide  as  to  the  rational  attitude  to  be 
taken  by  teachers  concerning  the  question  at  issue. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  MATHEMATICS     127 

[Pp.  89-90, 91]  It  is  therefore  probable  that  simple  mensura- 
tion will  continue,  as  a  part  of  arithmetic,  to  precede  algebra, 
as  at  present ;  and  that  algebra  into  or  through  quadratics  will 
precede  geometry,  drawing  upon  the  mensuration  of  arithmetic 
as  may  be  needed ;  and  that  geometry  will  follow  this  part  of 
algebra,  using  its  principles  as  far  as  possible  to  assist  in  the 
demonstrations  and  to  express  and  manipulate  its  formulas. 
Plane  geometry,  or  else  a  year  of  plane  and  solid  geometry, 
will  probably,  in  this  country,  be  followed  by  algebra,  com- 
pleting quadratics  and  studying  progressions ;  and  by  solid 
geometry,  or  a  supplementary  course  in  plane  and  solid  geom- 
etry, this  work  being  elective  in  many,  if  not  all,  schools. 
It  is  also  probable  that  a  general  review  of  mathematics,  where 
the  fusion  idea  may  be  carried  out,  will  prove  to  be  a  feature 
of  the  last  year  of  the  high  school,  and  one  that  will  grow  in 
popularity  as  time  goes  on.  Such  a  plan  will  keep  algebra  and 
geometry  separate,  but  it  will  allow  each  to  use  all  of  the  other 
that  has  preceded  it,  and  will  encourage  every  effort  in  this 
direction.  It  will  accomplish  all  that  a  more  complete  fusion 
really  hopes  to  accomplish,  and  it  will  give  encouragement  to 
all  who  seek  to  modernize  the  spirit  of  each  of  these  great 
branches  of  mathematics. 

There  is,  however,  a  chance  for  fusion  in  two  classes  of 
school,  neither  of  which  is  as  yet  well  developed  in  this 
country.  The  first  is  the  technical  high  school  that  is  at 
present  coming  into  some  prominence.  It  is  not  probable  even 
here  that  the  best  results  can  be  secured  by  eliminating  all 
mathematics  save  only  what  is  applicable  in  the  shop,  but  if 
this  view  should  prevail  for  a  time,  there  would  be  so  little  left 
of  either  algebra  or  geometry  that  each  could  readily  be  joined 
to  the  other.  The  actual  amount  of  algebra  needed  by  a  fore- 
man in  a  machine  shop  can  be  taught  in  about  four  lessons, 
and  the  geometry  or  mensuration  that  he  needs  can  be  taught 
in  eight  lessons  at  the  most.  The  necessary  trigonometry  may 
take  eight  more,  so  that  it  is  entirely  feasible  to  unite  these 
three  subjects.  The  boy  who  takes  such  a  course  would  know 
as  much  about  mathematics  as  a  child  who  had  read  ten  pages 
in  a  primer  would  know  about  literature,  but  he  would  have 


128     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

enough  for  his  immediate  needs,  even  though  he  had  no  appre- 
ciation of  mathematics  as  a  science.  If  any  one  asks  if  this  is 
not  all  that  the  school  should  give  him,  it  might  be  well  to  ask 
if  the  school  should  give  only  the  ability  to  read,  without  the 
knowledge  of  any  good  literature ;  if  it  should  give  only  the 
ability  to  sing,  without  the  knowledge  of  good  music;  if  it 
should  give  only  the  ability  to  speak,  without  any  training  in 
the  use  of  good  language ;  and  if  it  should  give  a  knowledge  of 
home  geography,  without  any  intimation  that  the  world  is 
round — an  atom  in  the  unfathomable  universe  about  us. 

The  second  opportunity  for  fusion  is  possibly  (for  it  is  by 
no  means  certain)  to  be  found  in  a  type  of  school  in  which  the 
only  required  courses  are  the  initial  ones.  These  schools  have 
some  strong  advocates,  it  being  claimed  that  every  pupil  should 
be  introduced  to  the  large  branches  of  knowledge  and  then 
allowed  to  elect  the  ones  in  which  he  finds  himself  the  most 
interested.  Whether  or  not  this  is  sound  educational  policy 
need  not  be  discussed  at  this  time ;  but  if  such  a  plan  were 
developed,  it  might  be  well  to  offer  a  somewhat  superficial  (in 
the  sense  of  abridged)  course  that  should  embody  a  little  of 
algebra,  a  little  of  geometry,  and  a  little  of  trigonometry.  This 
would  unconsciously  become  a  bait  for  students,  and  the  result 
would  probably  be  some  good  teaching  in  the  class  in  question. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  we  may  have  some  strong,  well-considered 
textbooks  upon  this  phase  of  the  work. 


THE  FOREGOING  ARGUMENT  ANSWERS  ITSELF 

Are  we  not  in  a  position  to  recast  the  geometry  of  the 
Greeks  and  the  algebra  of  the  Arabs  into  an  instrument  of 
modern  intellectual  training  ?  May  we  not  urge  this  change 
the  more  freely  when  we  have  come  to  recognize  the  impor- 
tance of  both  algebra  and  geometry  and  the  contribution 
which  each  is  ready  to  make  to  intellectual  life  ?  The  very 
fact  that  we  have  taken  both  into  our  circle  of  subjects  to  be 
taught  shows  that  we  are  better  off  than  was  Euclid,  or  the 
early  European  teachers  who  started  our  present  tradition. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  MATHEMATICS     129 

VARIOUS  BRANCHES  OF  MATHEMATICS  INVOLVE  FUNDA- 
MENTALLY DIFFERENT  MENTAL  PROCESSES 

The  psychologist  is  of  course  not  equipped  to  work  out 
the  change.  He  may,  hpwever,  venture  to  suggest  certain 
principles  which  will  have  to  be  taken  into  account  when 
the  change  is  made.  The  first  of  these  principles  is  that 
arithmetic,  algebra,  and  geometry  each  represents  some 
forms  of  mental  activity  not  included  in  the  others.  No  one 
can  make  a  psychological  analysis  of  these  sciences  without 
recognizing  the  distinctive  character  of  the  mental  processes 
involved.  The  earlier  chapters  of  this  book  have  been  de- 
voted to  the  description  of  the  mental  processes  peculiar 
to  geometry  and  algebra.  The  principle  has  not  been  justi- 
fied in  full  for  arithmetic  because  arithmetic  does  not  fall 
within  the  scope  of  this  book ;  however,  considerations  were 
presented  which  adequately  cover  even  arithmetic. 

ALL  MATHEMATICS  ABSTRACT 

Second,  all  mathematical  sciences  represent  abstract  forms 
of  thought.  Number  is  an  abstraction  derived  from,  but  not 
identical  with,  the  system  of  tallies  from  which  it  originated. 
Space,  as  treated  in  geometry,  is  something  other  than  the 
space  system  which  we  build  up  through  touch  and  vision. 
The  line  which  is  studied  in  geometry  is  an  abstraction  and 
belongs  in  an  abstract  scheme  of  thought ;  so  is  the  surface 
and  solid.  Algebra  is  evidently  a  system  of  abstractions. 
As  a  system  of  abstractions  mathematics  can  never  be 
identified  with  its  applications.  The  justification  for  a  sys- 
tem of  abstract  thought  is  that  it  evades  some  of  the  com- 
plexities of  real  concrete  situations  and  furnishes  a  means 
of  thinking  one's  way  through  the  real  world  with  greater 
economy.  The  system  of  abstraction  deserves,  therefore, 
some  treatment  for  its  own  sake. 


130    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

TRAINING  IN  APPLICATION  REQUIRED 

Third,  it  is  contrary  to  experience  to  assume  that  stu- 
dents can  apply  mathematics  to  the  other  sciences  or  to 
the  practical  affairs  of  life  unless  they  are  trained  to  see 
mathematical  relations  in  other  forms  than  those  in  which 
they  are  commonly  presented  in  the  schools.  The  student 
who  knows  the  abstract  demonstrations  of  geometry,  but 
does  not  realize  that  knowledge  of  space  is  involved  in 
every  manufacturing  operation,  in  every  adjustment  of 
agriculture  and  practical  mechanics,  is  only  half  trained. 
Application  must  be  a  phase,  and  an  explicit  phase,  of 
school  work.  Application  is  as  different  from  pure  science 
as  pure  sciences  are  different  from  each  other. 

SPACE  TYPICAL  FORM  OF  RELATIONAL  EXPERIENCE 

Fourth,  the  direct  perceptual  experience  which  is  most 
closely  related  to  all  types  of  mathematical  thought  is 
space.  Space,  because  of  its  character  as  a  relational  type 
of  experience,  is  not  only  itself  a  natural  subject  of  mathe- 
matical consideration,  but  is  also  capable  of  representing 
in  graphic  form  those  mathematical  relations  which  are 
usually  represented  in  letters  and  numbers.  Space  is 
therefore  strongly  suggested  as  an  instrument  for  both  the 
exemplification  and  the  expression  of  mathematical  ideas. 
Furthermore,  by  virtue  of  the  intimate  relation  of  space 
perception  to  mechanics,  space  seems  to  be  a  good  instru- 
ment for  the  training  of  students  in  application  of  mathe- 
matics. While  thus  emphasizing  the  significance  of  space 
for  mathematics,  it  is  proper  once  more  to  emphasize  the 
historical  fact  that  in  our  Western  civilization  the  science 
of  space  is  prior  to  all  other  phases  of  mathematics.  It  is 
altogether  probable  that  this  fact  will  shortly  be  recognized 
in  the  elementary  course. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  MATHEMATICS     131 

MATHEMATICAL  SUBJECT  MATTER  IN  NEED  OF 
REGRADING 

Fifth,  both  algebra  and  geometry  contain  simple  and 
complex  principles.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  simpler 
principles  of  both  branches  of  mathematics  should  not  be 
recognized  as  more  suitable  for  beginning  students  than 
an  exclusive  diet  of  either  algebra  or  geometry.  The  con- 
clusion that  one  or  the  other  is  harder  or  easier  when  the 
two  subjects  are  taken  as  wholes  is  unfortunate.  The  expe- 
rience of  schools  does  not  justify  the  statements  of  special- 
ists that  algebra  is  easier  than  geometry.  The  fact  is  that 
some  parts  of  one  are  hard  for  beginners  and  other  parts 
are  simple.  The  best  arrangement  of  subjects  would  be  to 
bring  together  all  the  simpler  mathematical  principles  and 
lead  up  from  these  to  the  complex  problems  in  both  fields. 

MATHEMATICS  AS  TRAINING  IN  MODES  OF  ABSTRACTION 

Sixth,  no  student  will  know  what  mathematics  is  until 
he  realizes  the  great  economy  of  mental  energy  which  this 
form  of  experience  makes  possible.  The  student  of  high- 
school  age  should  certainly  be  taught  the  value  of  abstrac- 
tion, as  well  as  the  methods  of  abstract  reasoning. 

PRACTICAL  IMPLICATIONS  OF  GENERAL  PRINCIPLES 

These  principles,  all  of  which  grow  directly  out  of  the 
discussions  of  the  foregoing  chapters,  seem  to  the  writer  to 
call  loudly  for  a  first-year  course  in  high-school  mathematics 
which  shall  lay  emphasis  on  space,  shall  include  application 
but  not  become  so  absorbed  in  applications  as  to  obscure  the 
principles  of  abstract  reasoning,  shall  include  the  simpler 
principles  of  both  algebra  and  geometry,  and  shall  train  the 
student  in  an  appreciation  of  the  value  of  symbols. 


132     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

If  this  book  were  intended  for  teachers  in  the  elementary 
schools,  it  would  advocate  a  course  in  form  study  early  in 
the  grades,  and  it  would  advocate  the  use  below  the  high 
school  of  some  of  the  economical  methods  of  mathematical 
reasoning  taught  by  algebra. 

The  only  one  of  these  conclusions  which  has  not  been 
fully  supported  in  the  foregoing  pages  is  that  referring 
to  applications.  The  issues  here  involved  are  too  broad  to  be 
dealt  with  in  terms  of  mathematics  alone.  Every  course  in 
the  curriculum  raises  the  same  kind  of  problem.  We  shall 
therefore  let  this  question  rest  for  the  moment,  with  the 
promise  that  the  psychology  of  applications  will  come  up 
again.  These  early  chapters  on  mathematics  have  carried 
enough  of  the  general  burden  of  introducing  the  reader 
to  the  problems  of  high-school  education.  We  shall  turn, 
therefore,  to  the  next  general  topic  on  which  psychology 
is  prepared  to  speak,  namely,  the  psychology  of  language. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE 

SECONDARY  COURSE  TRADITIONALLY  LITERARY 

The  secondary-school  curriculum  has  throughout  its  his- 
tory been  dominated  by  language  courses.  Whether  these 
courses  have  been  given  for  the  sake  of  acquainting  the 
student  with  foreign  literatures,  as  in  the  period  of  the 
Renaissance,  or  for  purely  disciplinary  reasons  as  during 
the  later  period  when  the  cultivation  of  a  Latin  style  was 
thought  to  be  the  highest  form  of  training;  whether  the 
training  has  been  in  a  foreign  language  as  in  earlier  days,  or 
largely  in  the  vernacular  as  at  the  present  time  —  language 
has,  in  one  form  or  another,  been  the  favored  course  of  study 
in  all  secondary  and  higher  schools.  If  one  considers  the 
merely  quantitative  fact  that  at  the  present  time  about 
36  per  cent  of  the  courses  offered  in  the  secondary  schools 
are  courses  either  in  the  study  of  the  vernacular  or  in  the 
study  of  a  foreign  language,1  he  recognizes  the  importance  of 
sound  views  with  regard  to  this  phase  of  secondary  educa- 
tion. Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  the  proper  organization  of 
language  courses  is,  if  possible,  a  problem  even  more  urgent 
than,  the  problem  of  organizing  algebra  and  geometry.  The 
practical  difficulty  arising  from  student  failures  is  not  as 
great  in  the  language  courses  as  in  mathematics.  In  some 
quarters,  to  be  sure,  Latin  shares  with  mathematics  the 
doubtful  honor  of  being  the  course  through  which  freshmen 
are  eliminated  from  school.  The  characteristic  difficulty 

1  Unpublished  study  of  North  Central  Association  reports  from 
approved  high  schools. 

133 


134     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

that  appears  in  language  instruction  is  the  difficulty  which 
arises  from  the  fact  that  students  spend  an  enormous  amount 
of  time  on  these  courses  and  carry  away  what  is  acknowl- 
edged to  be  a  very  meager  result.  An  American  high-school 
graduate  who  can  really  read  Latin  is  a  very  rare  product. 
In  the  modern  languages  students  study  the  courses  for 
two  or  three  years  and  are  not  able  to  read  a  simple  text 
or  understand  a  simple  conversation.  Even  in  the  vernac- 
ular the  complaint  is  heard  again  and  again  from  English 
teachers  that  students  who  have  been  studying  English 
all  their  lives  are  unable  to  write  a  coherent  paragraph  or 
to  understand  even  the  best-known  examples  of  English 
classical  literature.  The  net  outcome  of  the  time  and  en- 
ergy devoted  to  language  is  hardly  to  be  compared  with 
the  net  outcome  which  is  demanded  of  students  in  science 
courses.  If  students  should  study  the  natural  sciences  for 
two  or  three  years  and  at  the  end  of  the  course  have  nothing 
substantial  to  offer  as  the  outcome  of  their  endeavor,  cer- 
tainly the  natural  sciences  would  not  be  able  to  maintain 
themselves  in  the  curriculum.  When,  accordingly,  one  hears 
a  teacher  of  German  or  French  contending  that  two  years 
is  too  short  a  time  to  accomplish  anything  for  a  student  in 
that  language,  he  realizes  the  necessity  of  canvassing  care- 
fully the  language  courses.  Certain  it  is  that  many  students 
will  not  be  able  to  spend  more  than  two  years  on  German ; 
and  if  the  course  is  not  organized  at  the  present  time  in  such 
a  way  that  these  two  years  will  yield  a  useful  result,  then 
there  ought  to  be  a  reorganization  of  the  course. 

JUSTIFICATION  DEMANDED  FOB  EMPHASIS  ON. ENGLISH 

In  classifying  English  and  foreign  languages  together  for 
the  purposes  of  the  following  discussion  some  confusion 
is  undoubtedly  created,  because  in  general  the  instruction 
which  is  offered  in  foreign  languages  is  different  in  its 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE  135 

character  and  in  its  purposes  from  instruction  offered  in 
English.  On  the  other  hand,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  large  amount  of  attention  which  is  being  given  at  the 
present  time  to  English  is  to  be  explained  as  a  survival  of 
the  traditional  devotion  to  the  language  subjects.  English 
has,  in  the  present  period  of  reaction  against  the  classics, 
enjoyed  the  advantage  of  being  acceptable  to  both  parties 
in  the  classical  controversy.  English  has  been  acceptable 
to  the  defenders  of  classical  training  because  they  think 
of  English  as  a  body  of  literary  material,  and  regard  it 
as  proper  to  use  in  defense  of  English  most  of  the  argu- 
ments which  they  have  developed  in  defending  their  own 
subjects.  On  the  other  hand,  the  students  of  science  are 
also  interested  hi  seeing  English  receive  a  good  deal  of 
attention  because  they  believe  that  it  represents  a  depar- 
ture from  the  classical  traditions  and  from  the  devotion 
to  formal  instruction  in  foreign  languages.  English  has 
therefore  gone  on  its  way  undisputed.  It  has  come  to 
be  the  only  subject  in  the  secondary-school  curriculum 
which  is  recognized  by  everyone  as  a  suitable  subject  to  be 
required  of  all  students.  Signs  are  not  lacking  that  a  day  of 
reckoning  will  come  for  English  also.  When  the  teachers1 
of  this  subject  themselves  are  prepared  to  criticize  it  as 
severely  as  they  do,  there  is  danger  that  representatives  of 
other  departments  will  discover  its  weaknesses.  Just  as  soon 
as  the  weaknesses  of  present-day  English  courses  are  clearly 
pointed  out,  there  will  inevitably  come  a  demand  for  a  justi- 
fication of  the  large  amount  of  attention  which  these  courses 
now  receive.  The  classical  languages  have  for  some  years 
past  been  on  the  defensive.  The  modern  languages  have 
been  growing  in  importance,  and  yet  they  also  are  being 
questioned  by  those  who  are  interested  in  the  possibilities 
of  developing  a  scientific  and  technical  curriculum ;  so  that 

1C.   S.   Duncan,   "A  Rebellious  Word  in  English  Composition," 
English  Journal,  March,  1914,  p.  164. 


136     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

on  all  sides  the  language  subjects  will  have  to  canvass  care- 
fully the  question  of  the  amount  of  time  which  they  can 
legitimately  demand,  and  they  will  have  to  supply  an  educa- 
tional defense  for  themselves  much  more  critical  and  com- 
plete than  anything  which  has  been  supplied  up  to  this  time 
either  by  tradition  or  by  the  concrete  evidences  of  success 
which  have  attended  instruction  in  these  subjects. 

THE  GENERAL  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE 

As  in  our  earlier  studies  of  mathematics,  so  here  we  may 
very  properly  introduce  the  consideration  of  detailed  prob- 
lems by  a  review  of  the  contributions  which  psychology  has 
to  make.  This  is  the  more  needed  because  there  is  in  the 
minds  of  most  uncritical  thinkers  a  great  deal  of  false  doc- 
trine about  the  mental  processes  connected  with  words  and 
their  interpretation.  Indeed,  it  is  only  during  the  last  fifteen 
years,  since  Wundt's  work  in  his  "  Volkerpsychologie "  be- 
gan to  be  widely  appreciated,  that  anything  like  an  adequate 
psychological  treatment  of  language  has  been  current.1 

EARLIER  PSYCHOLOGY  EMPHASIZED  IMAGES 

The  earlier  descriptions  of  the  mental  processes  involved 
in  the  use  of  language  all  started  and  ended  with  the 
assumption  that  words  get  their  meanings  by  association 
with  images  in  the  speaker's  mind  or  in  the  mind  of  the 

1  Wilhelm  Wundt,  Volkerpsychologie.  Engelmann,  Leipzig,  1900. 
Unfortunately  there  is  no  English  translation  of  this  great  work.  Read- 
ers who  do  not  command  German  are  referred  to  the  following  brief 
discussions  in  English :  Wundt,  Outlines  of  Psychology  (translation 
published  by  Engelmann.  Only  the  third  English  edition  is  complete); 
G.  F.  Stout,  Manual  of  Psychology  (Hinds  and  Noble);  G.  F.  Stout, 
Groundwork  of  Psychology  (Hinds  and  Noble);  Charles  H.  Judd,  Psychol- 
ogy, General  Introduction.  It  is  the  more  important  that  teachers  should 
become  acquainted  with  these  summaries,  since  the  educational  writings 
of  recent  years  have  curiously  omitted  discussions  of  language,  so 
absorbed  have  they  been  in  sensations,  instincts,  emotions,  and  the  like. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE  13  T 

listener.1  When  one  hears  a  word,  we  have  been  told,  he 
calls  up  a  train  of  pictures,  and  these  are  the  really  im- 
portant mental  facts.  The  word  is  a  mere  clue,  a  kind  of 
key  to  the  storehouse  of  meanings.  There  has  been  at  all 
stages  of  the  discussion  a  very  large  disregard,  almost  a 
contempt,  for  the  word  as  distinguished  from  the  associated 
image.  Indeed,  the  word  has  been  so  much  neglected  that 
one  obvious  fact  has  been  overlooked  in  most  of  the  dis- 
cussions. This  obvious  fact  is  that  speech  in  all  of  its 
manifold  forms  is  more  than  a  mere  train  of  ideas ;  it  is  a 
definite  and  important  kind  of  behavior.  There  is  a  move- 
ment of  some  muscles  of  the  body  present  in  every  form  of 
speech  and  reading.  If  one  articulates  a  word,  there  is  a 
most  elaborate  coordination  of  the  muscles  of  respiration, 
of  the  vocal-cord  region,  and  of  the  mouth.  If  one  reads, 
there  are  eye  movements  and  incipient  movements  of  the 
muscles  of  articulation.  If  one  listens,  there  are  adjust- 
ments of  the  head  and  ears,  and  active  vocal  tendencies  to 
repeat  what  one  hears,  and  active  forms  of  inner  reactions 
of  assent  and  dissent.  Even  if  it  were  true  that  words 
always  call  up  images,  it  is  infinitely  more  true  that  words 
are  forms  of  behavior,  and  their  value  in  individual  life 
can  be  understood  only  when  this  behavior-aspect  of  the 
matter  is  duly  considered.  Furthermore,  there  is  ample 
ground  in  personal  experience  for  skepticism  about  the 
statement  often  made  that  words  call  up  trains  of  pictures. 
The  few  faint  images  which  flit  through  the  mind  as  one 
reads  a  page  of  meaningful  discussion  are  by  no  means  the 
important  facts  in  mental  life  which  some  psychologies  have 
tried  to  make  them.  When  one  looks  into  his  own  mind 
he  finds  wealth  of  meaning  and  meagerness  of  imagery. 
When  a  false  psychology  tries  to  persuade  the  observer 

1  Locke's  "An  Essay  concerning  Human  Understanding  "  (1689-1690) 
set  the  example  of  English  writers  in  this  respect.  See  also  Berkeley's 
"A  Treatise  concerning  the  Principles  of  Human  Knowledge,"  1710. 


138     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

that  the  images  pass  through  the  mind  too  rapidly  to  be 
noted,  he  has  a  right  to  ask  for  a  more  vital  and  adequate 
explanation  of  this  most  important  form  of  experience. 

LANGUAGE  A  FOKM  OF  BEHAVIOK 

There  is  one  other  aspect  of  the  matter  which  calls  for 
comment  before  we  turn  to  the  study  of  words  as  forms 
of  behavior.  Up  to  this  time  the  breach  between  words 
and  practical  activities  has  been  complete.  The  teacher  of 
manual  training  has  scorned  words,  and  the  teacher  of  Eng- 
lish has  looked  down  on  shop  work.  These  mutual  antipa- 
thies grow  out  of  a  vagueness  with  regard  to  the  character 
of  the  mental  processes  connected  with  words  and  with 
manual  activities.  If  we  are  ever  to  adjust  the  so-called 
academic  subjects  and  the  technical  subjects,  we  must  be 
perfectly  clear  that  shop  work  and  Latin  are  both  forms 
of  behavior.  What  is  the  nature  of  one  form  of  behavior, 
what  the  nature  of  the  other  ?  These  are  questions  which 
must  be  answered,  in  order  to  give  to  each  subject  its  proper 
place  and  its  proper  relations. 

Language  as  a  form  of  behavior  must  be  studied  in  con-' 
nection  with  other  forms  of  behavior  and  with  reference 
to  its  development.  We  may,  therefore,  at  the  outset  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  everyone,  throughout  his  waking 
life,  is  intensely  active.  The  muscles  of  the  body  are  always 
tense.  This  tension  of  the  muscles  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  stream  bf  sensory  energy  which  goes  in  at  the  eyes  and 
ears  pours  out  into  all  the  muscles  of  the  body  and  main- 
tains a  general  bodily  tension  or  muscular  tonus.  When 
a  special  impression  conies  to  the  senses  and  arouses  a  par- 
ticular set  of  muscles,  a  single  definite  contraction,  as,  for 
'example,  a  contraction  of  the  muscles  of  the  arm,  rises 
above  the  general  bodily  tension,  and  the  arm  moves 
through  space.  The  ordinary  observer  is  likely  to  overlook 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE          139 

the  fact  that  the  body  was  active  before  the  arm  moved. 
He  will  see  the  matter  in  a  new  light,  however,  if  he  thinks 
how  much  work  is  done  all  the  time  in  holding  up  the 
body  or  the  head  during  waking  hours.  If  the  muscles  of 
the  neck  relax  for  a  moment  the  head  falls  forward.  The 
muscles  of  the  body  are  likewise  active  all  the  time ;  and 
the  particular  movements  of  which  we  think  when  the  term 
"  activity "  is  ordinarily  used  are  mere  special  cases  of  a 
general  muscular  tension. 

RELATION  OF  LANGUAGE  TO  EMOTIONS 

Corresponding  to  the  general  tension  of  the  muscles,  there 
is  a  general  excitement  throughout  the  nervous  system ;  and 
corresponding  to  this  general  excitement  throughout  the 
nervous  system,  there  is  a  general  tonus  of  mental  life.  We 
often  speak  of  this  as  the  emotional  tone  of  consciousness. 
The  man  who  starts  out  at  the  beginning  of  the  day  with 
buoyant  spirits  and  head  erect  exemplifies  the  relation 
between  bodily  tonus  and  mental  tonus. 

The  relation  between  mental  life  and  bodily  activity  is 
also  well  illustrated  by  the  infant.  The  infant's  conscious- 
ness can  best  be  described  by  saying  that  it  is  a  mass  of 
vague  mental  tensions.  Some  of  these  mental  tensions  reach 
a  high  level  of  intensity  and  stand  out  from  the  general 
body  of  vague,  massive  experiences.  So  it  is  also  with  the 
infant's  behavior.  The  infant  moves  with  all  the  parts  of 
his  body  irregularly  and  diffusely.  He  exhibits  infinite 
possibilities  of  behavior  and  unorganized  tendencies  of 
action.  The  business  of  experience  is  to  develop  out  of 
these  vague,  general  possibilities  specific  forms  of  reaction. 
With  the  development  of  specific  bodily  movements  will 
come  specific  mental  processes. 

Among  the  earliest  phases  of  indefinite  reaction  on  the 
part  of  the  infant  are  the  reactions  of  the  vocal  muscles. 


140     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

These  vocal  muscles,  like  the  muscles  of  the  arms  and  legs, 
contract  at  the  beginning  of  life  whenever  there  is  a  general 
excitement  of  the  nervous  system.  Such  excitement  some- 
times grows  intense,  as  in  the  case  of  emotional  reactions. 
The  screaming  infant  is  always  a  kicking  and  a  striking 
infant.  He  does  not  scream  for  purposes  of  communication. 
Indeed,  he  does  not  have  any  appreciation  of  the  world 
about  him.  His  experience  is  all  internal,  personal,  and 
emotional  in  type.  Very  shortly,  however,  certain  forms  of 
personal  behavior  begin  to  take  on  a  unique  value.  The  in- 
fant finds  that  some  of  his  forms  of  behavior  produce  effects 
on  those  about  him.  Furthermore,  he  begins  to  note  in  those 
about  him  forms  of  activity  which  he  can  imitate.  Certain 
forms  of  behavior  come  thus  in  a  social  group  to  have  a  value 
which  they  do  not  possess  in  individual  experience.  This 
fact  can  be  illustrated  by  an  example  borrowed  from  adult 
life.  When  we  are  afraid  we  feel  many  internal  contractions 
which  we  have  not  learned  to  control.  On  the  other  hand,  we 
control  our  facial  expression  because  we  do  not  want  to  show 
to  our  fellows  just  how  frightened  we  are.  Facial  expres- 
sions are  easily  observable,  and  we  know  it ;  hence  our  effort 
to  suppress  them.  Our  internal  reactions  and  our  private 
emotions  we  enjoy  without  interruption  because  no  one  can 
see  them.  So  it  is  with  the  infant :  certain  of  his  external, 
visible  reactions  begin  to  stand  forth  in  his  experience  as 
having  a  unique  social  value.  He  cultivates  a  social  con- 
sciousness through  a  recognition  of  the  effects  of  his  acts. 


Perhaps  it  will  be  well  to  study  the  growth  of  social  con- 
sciousness in  connection  with  forms  of  activity  other  than 
speech.  To  this  end  let  us  consider  more  in  detail  facial 
expressions.  In  the  first  place,  the  person  who  exhibits 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE  141 

the  facial  expression  becomes  aware  of  the  fact  that  he 
is  likely  to  induce  imitation  in  others;  and,  in  the  second 
place,  the  person  who  sees  the  contraction  of  the  facial 
muscles  is  aware  of  the  fact  that  he  is  drawn  into  sympathy 
with  one  of  his  fellows.  The  person  who  exhibits  the  ex- 
pression will  therefore  try  to  modify  it  if  he  does  not  wish 
to  be  imitated,  or  he  may,  on  the  other  hand,  try  to  exagger- 
ate the  expression  if  he  wishes  to  be  imitated.  Conversely, 
the  person  who  sees  the  expression  will  either  try  to 
suppress  his  own  tendencies  toward  imitation  or  become 
absorbed  in  these  tendencies.  A  simple  example  of  social 
imitation  is  seen  when  a  group  of  people  imitate  each  other 
hi  yawning.  The  activity  is  in  this  case  a  very  simple 
physiological  reaction,  and  yet,  because  it  is  so  easy  to 
imitate,  it  takes  on  a  strong  social  character. 

If  we  study  natural  reactions  we  discover  a  whole  series 
of  graded  steps  of  imitation  and  tendencies  to  take  on 
social  significance.  For  example,  the  angry  man  who  shakes 
his  fist  in  the  face  of  his  neighbor  is  very  likely  to  induce 
an  equally  vigorous  imitative  response.  Imitation  here  is 
more  compelling  than  in  the  case  of  a  yawn.  A  serious 
mood,  with  its  accompanying  expressions,  will  induce  a  like 
attitude  in  others.  Here  the  external  symptoms  are  many 
and  complex.  A  spirit  of  optimism  or  pessimism  is  socially 
contagious  because  the  person  possessed  of  such  a  spirit  is 
violently  expressive.  In  all  these  cases,  be  it  noted,  we  are 
dealing  with  social  values  which  are  more  fundamental  and, 
in  a  sense,  more  simple  than  speech. 

Imitation  reaches  far  beyond  the  muscular  act  itself. 
It  riot  only  brings  the  social  group  into  harmonious  action, 
but  it  also  makes  it  possible  for  one  individual  to  induce 
indirectly  in  his  neighbor  an  inner  state  of  mind.  Thus, 
if  by  shaking  one's  fist  in  the  face  of  his  neighbor  one  can 
stir  up  an  imitative  act,  he  is  likely  also  to  communicate 
his  anger  to  the  person  in  whom  he  induces  imitation. 


142    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

Two  consciousnesses  are  thus  brought  together  through 
an  external  act  which  was  originally  attached  only  to  the 
consciousness  of  one  person. 

SELECTION  OF  FORMS  OF  BEHAVIOR  FOE,  SOCIAL 
COMMUNICATION 

Once  this  possibility  of  communicating  from  mind  to 
mind  through  external  behavior  becomes  obvious  in  a  social 
group,  there  is  sure  to  be  a  rapid  development  of  a  general 
system  of  communications.  The  evolution  of  a  system  of 
communications  will  naturally  emphasize  that  form  of  be- 
havior which  is  at  once  easy  to  observe  and  easy  to  control. 
If  there  is  some  form  of  activity  which  impresses  one's 
neighbor  but  which  one  cannot  himself  control,  it  is  not 
likely  that  one  will  depend  on  this  uncontrollable  system 
of  activity  for  purposes  of  social  intercourse.  A  moment 
ago  we  referred  to  facial  expressions  as  one  of  the  avenues 
of  social  communication.  Evidently,  however,  facial  ex- 
pression is  not  the  best  medium  for  influencing  one's 
neighbor,  because  one  is  himself  not  aware  of  the  way 
in  which  his  facial  muscles  contract.  In  order  to  have  the 
largest  possible  control  of  one's  own  acts,  one  must  be 
able  himself  to  observe  his  acts.  We  see,  therefore,  that 
the  tendency  in  any  social  group  will  early  be  in  the  di- 
rection of  emphasizing  such  activities  as  those  of  the  hand 
rather  than  those  of  the  face. 

GESTURES  A  PRIMITIVE  FORM  OF  LANGUAGE 

One  of  the  earlier  forms  of  language  is  gesture  language. 
When  one  makes  a  gesture  he  can  see  what  he  is  doing, 
and  he  can  also  induce  imitation  on  the  part  of  the  per- 
son with  whom  he  is  trying  to  communicate.  Through 
social  development  the  gesture,  which  was  at  first  a  purely 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE  143 

personal  reaction,  has  passed  into  the  sphere  of  elaborately 
meaningful  acts. 

For  example,  if  the  traveler  on  the  plains  wishes  to 
express  to  a  stranger  whom  he  meets  the  fact  that  he  is 
thirsty  or  hungry,  he  is  able  to  do  so  readily  by  the  use  of 
gestures  which  point  to  his  mouth  and  indicate  that  he  wishes 
to  have  something  to  put  into  his  mouth.  The  gesture  in  this 
case  is  undoubtedly  accompanied  by  some  degree  of  emo- 
tional excitement,  but  the  gesture  is  more  than  an  emotional 
expression  —  it  is  a  means  of  communicating  an  idea.  The 
gesture  is  a  part  of  the  total  behavior  which  the  individual 
would  go  through  if  he  really  wanted  food.  In  this  sense  it 
requires  no  special  training  either  to  produce  it  or  to  under- 
stand it.  Gestures  have  accordingly  been  called  natural  signs. 

CONVENTIONALIZED  GESTURES 

Gestures  come  to  be,  in  the  course  of  repeated  use,  rela- 
tively much  simpler  than  they  were  at  the  outset.  Thus 
two  individuals  who  have  frequently  communicated  with 
each  other  can,  by  some  familiar  gesture  which  is  a  mere 
remnant  of  an  earlier,  more  elaborate  movement,  arouse  in 
each  other's  minds  ideas  which  are  definite  and  significant. 
This  simplification  of  gestures  appears  in  the  study  of  deaf 
mutes  and  others  who  depend  entirely  upon  gestures  in  com- 
municating with  each  other.  Gestures  become  simpler  and 
simpler  because  the  interpretation  which  the  various  mem- 
bers of  the  social  group  are  able  to  give  to  them  becomes 
more  and  more  trained.  Finally,  the  gesture  is  so  far  sim- 
plified that  it  is  no  longer  a  natural  sign.  It  is  significant  in 
its  simplified  form  merely  because  it  starts  a  train  of  asso- 
ciations in  a  mind  especially  prepared  by  past  experience 
to  respond  to  the  suggestion.  At  this  stage  the  gesture  is 
to  be  described  as  a  convention ;  that  is,  several  persons 
have  come  to  use  it  for  a  common  purpose  long  enough  to 


144     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

establish  a  like  interpretation  for  each  of  the  members  of  the 
trained  group.  A  stranger  who  comes  into  the  company  is 
not  able  to  use  the  gestures  as  do  the  members  of  the  trained 
group,  because  in  the  stranger's  mind  there  is  no  fixed  rela- 
tion between  the  simplified  movement  and  its  appropriate 
interpretation.  The  term  "  convention,"  as  above  used,  is 
not  to  be  understood  to  indicate  that  there  has  been  any 
deliberate  arrangement  or  agreement  on  the  part  of  the 
members  of  the  group ;  they  simply  came  to  use  the  gesture 
in  this  common  way  through  their  contact  with  each  other. 
There  is  no  conscious  agreement  to  develop  a  system  of 
signs ;  there  is  merely  a  natural  development  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  group  in  the  same  direction  until  finally  their 
expressions  are  naturally  simplified. 

SELECTION  OF  THE  VOCAL  CORDS  AS  INSTRUMENTS 
OP  EXPRESSION 

Up  to  this  time  we  have  used  examples  of  expressions 
and  conventional  activities  which  do  not  involve  the  vocal 
cords.  This  discussion  of  other  forms  of  movement  shows 
us  how  closely  the  evolution  of  vocal  language  has  followed 
natural  lines.  We  turn  now  to  a  brief  consideration  of  the 
reasons  why  the  vocal  cords  have  come  to  occupy  the  posi- 
tion of  preeminent  importance  which  they  hold  in  human 
life.  We  have  in  the  vocal  cords  an  organ  of  the  highest 
degree  of  flexibility.  The  movements  of  the  muscles  which 
control  the  cords  are  more  delicate  than  the  movements  of 
the  hand  or  of  most  parts  of  the  body.  At  the  same  time 
these  movements  produce,  through  the  sense  of  hearing,  a 
series  of  sensations  which  can  be  recognized  by  both  the 
speaker  and  the  auditor.  There  results  thus,  through  the 
sense  of  hearing,  the  most  advantageous  control  of  the  motor 
organs.  Furthermore,  the  sensory  experience  which  is  pro- 
duced by  the  vocal  cords  is  not  dependent  upon  external 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE  145 

conditions,  except  that  there  must  be  air  through  which  the 
sound  can  be  transmitted.  As  long  as  there  is  air  enough 
for  a  human  being  to  breathe,  there  will  also  be  a  medium 
for  the  transmission  of  sounds.  In  this  respect  the  vocal 
cords  are  very  much  less  dependent  upon  external  condi- 
tions than  are  gestures.  One  cannot  use  gestures  after 
dark,  because  the  withdrawal  of  the  light  makes  it  impos- 
sible for  the  person  addressed  to  see.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  speaker  can  produce  a  noise  even  if  he  is  in  the  dark. 
The  external  conditions  do  not  limit  him  in  producing 
noises,  as  they  would  limit  him  if  he  tried  to  communicate 
through  the  visual  sense. 

Finally,  the  vocal  cords  rather  than  the  hands  are  selected 
as  the  instruments  of  social  communication,  because  the 
hands  are  needed  for  other  purposes.  The  hands  in  the 
course  of  human  experience  have  come  to  be  specialized  as 
the  organs  for  technical  activities.  We  learn  the  arts  and 
engage  in  them  with  the  hands.  We  cannot  spare  the 
hands  for  purposes  of  social  communication.  Indeed,  in 
many  cases  the  chief  importance  of  social  communication  is 
that  it  aids  workers  to  cooperate  with  their  hands,  as  in 
moving  a  heavy  object.  While  the  hands  are  too  useful  to 
be  given  over  to  communication,  the  vocal  cords  are  use- 
less as  technical  instruments.  We  cannot  do  anything  in 
the  physical  world  with  our  vocal  cords.  We  cannot  move 
objects  about  with  the  vocal  muscles,  and  we  cannot  manip- 
ulate tools  with  them.  The  vocal  organs  are  adapted  to  a 
single  type  of  behavior,  namely,  social  communication. 

EVOLUTION  OF  VOCAL  EXPRESSIONS 

Once  the  vocal  cords  have  been  selected,  and  the  general 
fact  that  a  sound  can  be  used  as  a  medium  of  social  com- 
munication has  become  obvious  to  a  social  group,  there  will 
appear  a  tendency  similar  to  that  which  was  pointed  out  in 


146     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

connection  with  gestures.  The  sound  will  begin  to  take  on 
meanings  which  are  dependent  more  upon  the  training  of 
the  speaker  and  the  auditor  than  upon  the  natural  relations 
of  the  sound.  For  example,  if  we  take  one  of  the  natural 
sounds  produced  by  an  animal  and  think  of  it  as  imitated 
by  the  human  vocal  cords,  as  when  a  child  says  "  bowwow," 
there  will  undoubtedly  be  a  natural  relationship  in  the 
mind  of  both  the  speaker  and  the  auditor  between  this  par' 
ticular  sound  and  the  animal  which  it  represents.  Gradu- 
ally, however,  the  social  group  will  be  freed  from  the 
necessity  of  producing  the  complete  natural  sound  in  this 
case.  A  partial  sound  which  grows  out  of  the  more  elabo- 
rate  natural  sound  will  be  entirely  adequate  to  arouse  the 
idea.  The  principle  of  association  operates  here,  and  the 
simplification  of  the  expression  goes  on  exactly  as  it  did  in 
the  case  of  gestures.  Furthermore,  there  are  many  cases  in 
which  there  are  no  sounds  produced  by  the  objects  to  be 
designated.  In  such  cases  the  naturalness  of  the  sound  will 
arise  from  the  fact  that  a  human  being,  in  the  presence  of 
a  certain  object,  tends  to  make  a  certain  noise.  It  is  often 
difficult  to  show  why  a  particular  noise  is  natural.  In  some 
cases  the  articulation  is  undoubtedly  natural  in  the  sense 
that  one  tends  to  make  a  loud  noise  in  the  presence  of  a 
large  object,  while  one  tends,  on  the  other  hand,  to  make  a 
faint  or  shrill  noise  in  the  presence  of  small  objects.  One 
ribtes,  for  example,  that  his  method  of  talking  to  a  little 
child  or  a  little  animal  is  always  different  from  his  method 
of  addressing  an  adult  or  a  large  animal.  One  tends  to 
speak  in  a  high,  shrill  tone  when  he  speaks  to  a  cat; 
whereas  he  never  uses  this  pitch  when  speaking  to  a  horse. 
The  naturalness  of  the  sound  in  this  case  is  not  dependent 
at  all  upon  the  sound  which  is  produced  by  the  animal 
itself.  We  discover  here  that  behavior  derives  its  natural- 
ness from  the  human  speaker  rather  than  from  the  object 
named.  Max  Miiller  expressed  this  fact  when  he  said  that 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE  147 

if  you  strike  a  human  being  you  will  get  a  characteristic 
sound  exactly  as  you  do  when  you  strike  a  bell.  The  crit- 
ics of  Max  Miiller's  theory  call  this  the  "  dingdong"  theory  of 
the  development  of  language.  They  regarded  the  theory  as 
fantastic,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Miiller  expressed 
a  fundamental  truth. 

In  the  beginnings  of  language  there  were  many  situations 
•in  which  vocal  reactions  were  perfectly  natural  and,  at  the 
same  time,  distinctive  because  of  the  character  of  the  sit- 
uation in  which  the  articulation  was  produced.  If  now  a 
social  group  has  repeatedly  heard  a  sound  produced  in  the 
presence  of  a  certain  object  or  situation,  there  naturally 
develops  a  tendency  for  the  sound  and  the  ideas  to  get 
themselves  so  definitely  connected  that  whenever  the  object 
or  situation  is  presented  this  particular  sound  will  be  pro- 
duced. Conversely,  whenever  the  sound  is  produced,  the 
idea  of  that  particular  object  or  situation  will  arise  in  the 
mind.  The  question  of  the  form  in  which  such  an  associ- 
ation will  develop  is  a  problem  to  which  we  must  return 
again.  It  is  important  to  note,  however,  at  this  juncture, 
that  what  is  associated  with  a  partial  sound  is  not  merely  a 
picture  or  image  in  the  mind,  but  rather  a  whole  attitude 
of  reaction.  When  I  utter  the  word  "  dog,"  or  hear  the 
sound  which  comes  from  uttering  that  word,  the  partial 
or  verbal  reaction  expands  instantly  into  the  general  bodily 
attitude  appropriate  to  the  experience  of  seeing  a  dog.  If  I 
am  afraid  of  dogs,  the  essential  part  of  the  experience  will 
be  a  feeling  of  violent  contraction  of  my  internal  muscles 
and  a  desire  to  run.  If  I  am  fond  of  dogs,  I  shall  have  a 
reaching  out  of  all  my  muscles  and  a  feeling  of  satisfaction. 
There  may  be,  and  often  is,  no  image  in  the  mind  at  all. 
The  word  is  part  of  a  system  of  behavior  rather  than  part 
of  a  series  of  pictures.  The  experiences  attached  to  words 
thus  include  as  important  elements  the  feeling  attitudes 
appropriate  to  the  object. 


148     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

SPEECH  AS  CONVENTION 

In  the  course  of  development,  sounds  became  more  highly 
conventionalized  than  gestures.  A  newcomer  in  the  social 
group  which  has  many  conventions  has  certain  unique 
advantages  and  certain  serious  difficulties.  He  can  acquire 
through  imitation  a  whole  system  of  expressions  which  the 
group  developed  very  gradually,  but  he  will  have  to  take 
on  many  of  the  sounds  without  seeing  anything  natural  in 
them.  Thus  the  child  who  comes  into  a  social  group  in  pos- 
session of  an  English  vocabulary  will  have  little  opportunity 
to  exercise  his  inventive  genius.  He  .could  doubtless  make 
many  natural  sounds,  but  society  has  no  time  or  patience 
to  attend  to  his  personal  attempts.  Society  has  its  system, 
and  the  newcomer  must  learn  the  system.  In  the  long  run 
he  will  profit,  for  the  system  is  more  elaborate  than  anything 
he  could  invent,  and  it  has  subtle  virtues  which  he  does  not 
always  realize.  His  task  is,  however,  a  relatively  artificial 
task.  He  must  learn  to  control  his  vocal  cords  so  that  he  can 
produce  the  great  variety  of  sounds  included  in  the  lan- 
guage which  he  is  trying  to  acquire,  and  he  must  learn  most 
meanings  as  pure  conventions.  This  latter  is  no  simple  task, 
and  nature  does  not  guide  him.  He  will  have  to  acquire 
meanings  by  any  devices  he  can  adopt,  in  order  to  bring 
himself  into  sympathetic  contact  with  the  ideas  of  his 
elders.  Learning  a  language  is,  therefore,  a  very  different 
process  from  helping  to  construct  a  language  in  a  social 
group  without  established  conventions. 

CONVENTION  HIGHLY  ADVANTAGEOUS 

Critics  of  educational  methods  and  results  have  often  had 
occasion  to  emphasize  the  unnaturalness  of  words  and  the 
dangers  that  the  intellectual  life  of  the  student  encounters 
when  he  is  introduced  to  words  as  the  chief  instruments  of 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE  149 

his  training.  It  may  be  well,  therefore,  at  the  very  begin- 
ning of  the  study  to  point  out  the  great  advantages  of  an 
elaborate  scheme  of  communication,  even  if  that  scheme 
is  highly  conventional.  One  thinks  of  the  primitive  savage 
who  succeeded  in  communicating  his  emotions  and  a  few  of 
his  simple  concrete  ideas  to  his  fellows,  and  realizes  that  the 
moment  this  possibility  of  communication  was  developed, 
there  grew  up  an  intimate  relationship  between  the  mem- 
bers of  the  communicating  group  which  made  for  social 
cooperation  and  social  solidarity  of  the  utmost  importance. 
A  tribe  that  had  developed  this  means  of  communication 
was  no  longer  made  up  of  individuals  relatively  independ- 
ent of  each  other.  Rather,  it  was  made  up  of  a  group  closely 
bound  together  and  able  to  cooperate  with  each  other  in  the 
most  efficient  way.  The  larger  and  more  powerful  the  social 
group  became,  the  more  important  became  the  means  of 
communication,  the  more  dependent  the  individual  found 
himself  to  be  upon  his  social  environment,  and  the  more 
eager  he  was  to  cultivate  the  fullest  possibility  of  social 
expression.  Language  came,  therefore,  to  be  an  instrument 
of  social  union,  and  social  union  changed  the  character  of 
individual  effort  and  individual  interest.  It  would  be  hard 
to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  language  among  the  forms 
of  primitive  human  activity.  The  industrial  arts  developed 
slowly,  but  even  these  depended  for  their  fullest  usefulness 
upon  the  compactness  of  the  social  group.  When  the  hunter 
and  the  arrow  maker  began  to  divide  their  functions  in  such 
a  way  that  the  hunter  carried  on  one  part  of  society's  activi- 
ties, and  the  arrow  maker,  as  a  specialist,  played  an  entirely 
different  part,  it  was  language  that  held  them  both  to- 
gether in  a  single  social  organization.  It  was  language 
which  made  it  possible  for  them  to  exchange  their  prod- 
ucts, and  to  reach  an  agreement  with  regard  to  the  future 
policies  which  should  set  each  one  at  work  in  his  own 
particular  line  with  the  complete  assurance  that  this  type 


150    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

of  cooperation  would  be  advantageous  to  himself  and  to 
his  fellows.  Man  came  to  be,  because  of  his  use  of  language, 
an  entirely  different  kind  of  a  being  from  any  of  the  ani- 
mals. Indeed,  he  began  to  live  a  kind  of  life  which  had 
never  been  evolved  in  the  animal  kingdom ;  and  his  devo- 
tion to  language  was  merely  the  expression  of  the  fact 
that  he  depended  upon  this  instrument  of  social  life  in  a 
very  high  degree  for  the  maintenance  of  the  general  con- 
ditions under  which  he  carried  on  all  of  his  activities.  The 
pursuit  of  a  line  of  thought  such  as  this  will  show  the  stu- 
dent of  human  nature  the  value  of  social  conventions  as 
distinguished  from  naturalness  of  expression.  The  individ- 
ual must  give  up  something  of  his  personal  directness  of 
reaction  in  order  to  become  a  part  of  the  social  whole,  but 
the  result  is  worth  the  cost. 

SPEECH  A  DOMINATING  SYSTEM  OF  BEHAVIOR 

Little  by  little  this  one  dominant  mode  of  behavior  began 
to  draw  into  itself  and  associate  with  itself  other  forms  of 
human  activity.  For  example,  primitive  drawing  originated 
in  the  beginning  without  any  reference  whatsoever  to  spoken 
language.  Men  drew  pictures  of  objects,  and  through  these 
pictures  aroused  in  each  other  certain  ideas.  We  have 
ample  evidence  that  the  earliest  forms  of  picture-writing 
had  no  connection  whatsoever  with  oral  communication. 
In  the  course  of  time,  however,  just  as  gestures  were  sim- 
plified and  gradually  came  to  take  on  conventional  meaning, 
so  the  pictures  which  are  drawn  by  primitive  men  came  to 
have  conventional  significance.  There  are  evidences  of  this 
to-day  in  all  of  the  conventional  mythological  figures  which 
still  survive  as  direct  appeals  to  the  visual  imagination,  in 
the  totem  pole  of  the  Indian,  and  in  the  idol  of  the  Oriental. 
These  show  that  the  pictures  which  men  drew  in  the  early 
stages  of  social  life  began  to  have  a  significance  for  the 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE  151 

group  which  they  could  not  have  had  if  there  had  not  been 
a  social  group  to  use  and  interpret  them.  Certain  of  the 
pictures  which  primitive  men  drew  were  ultimately  simpli- 
fied and  brought  into  the  closest  relation  to  words.  If  one 
goes  to  China  to-day,  he  finds  that  every  word  has  its  corre- 
sponding picture.  The  Chinese  picture-words  undoubtedly 
originated  at  first  as  independent  creations;  but  as  soon 
as  it  was  found  that  a  picture  could  be  related  to  a  word, 
the  picture  lost  its  character  as  an  appeal  to  the  visual 
imagination  and  became  a  part  of  the  abstract  system  of 
language.  The  possibility  of  using  pictures  as  permanent 
means  of  expression  and  as  a  means  of  expression  over 
long  distances,  both  of  space  and  time,  gave  them  an  in- 
fluence on  civilization  which  is  in  some  respects  superior 
to  the  influence  exercised  by  oral  expression.  Oral  expres- 
sion, while  less  permanent  and  therefore  less  significant 
as  a  means  of  establishing  records,  was,  however,  the  con- 
trolling system  of  expression  and  determined  the  ideas 
which  should  be  associated  with  the  written  symbol.  The 
written  symbol  had  to  express  first  a  word,  and  through 
this  word  the  related  ideas.  Incidentally,  this  subordina- 
tion of  drawing  to  oral  expression  is  the  strongest  possible 
evidence  that  words  are  not  psychologically  dependent  on 
visual  images  for  their  usefulness.  Words  are  substitutes 
for  pictures. 

The  foregoing  psychological  sketch  of  the  origin  of  the 
written  alphabet  should  be  supplemented  by  a  perusal  of 
some  of  the  more  complete  accounts  of  this  evolution.1 

i  I.  Taylor,  History  of  the  Alphabet  (Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1899); 
article  "Paleography"  in  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  (ninth  edition,  Vol. 
XVIII);  C.  H.  Judd,  Genetic  Psychology  for  Teachers,  chap,  vii 
(D.  Appleton  and  Company,  1903) .  See  also  at  the  beginning  of  each  letter 
in  the  Century  Dictionary  a  brief  history  of  that  letter. 


152    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

INFLUENCE  OF  WRITTEN  FORMS  ON  SPEECH 

After  the  domination  of  picture-writing  by  articulation 
had  been  completely  effected,  the  reflex  influence  of  written 
language  on  oral  speech  became  everywhere  apparent.  Oral 
speech  has  to-day  elements  of  conservatism  and  fixity 
which  can  be  explained  only  by  recognizing  the  fact  that 
we  not  only  speak  our  words  but  also  write  them.  In  un- 
civilized tribes  the  modifications  of  sounds  went  forward 
very  rapidly  because  men  had  no  permanent  record  of  the 
sounds  which  constituted  their  language.  Since  the  inven- 
tion of  printing  —  indeed,  since  the  beginning  of  the  use 
of  writing  —  the  permanent  visual  record  has  made  it  more 
and  more  difficult  for  dialects  to  break  off  from  each  other 
and  for  new  signs  and  combinations  to  arise  in  oral  speech. 
Other  reflex  influences  of  written  speech  have  also  shown 
themselves  in  the  development  of  the  history  of  language. 
The  grammatical  forms  and  the  rhetorical  principles  which 
are  operative  in  modern  society  are  more  governed  to-day 
by  written  and  printed  language  than  by  oral  expression. 

The  reflex:  influences  of  written  speech  upon  oral  lan- 
guage are  nowhere  more  apparent  than  in  the  practices  of 
our  schools.  Here  we  find  ourselves  in  a  sphere  where 
written  language  has  been  so  much  emphasized  that  it  has 
come  to  be  the  dominant  instrument  of  instruction.  When 
we  wish  to  give  the  child  an  idea  in  our  American  schools 
we  usually  do  it  through  the  printed  page  rather  than 
through  the  spoken  word.  When  one  thinks  of  the  number 
of  printed  pages  that  a  child  reads  in  the  course  of  his  edu- 
cation, one  realizes  how  important  this  mode  of  instruction 
has  come  to  be  in  our  civilization.  Probably  a  child  in 
school  reads  more  words  in  a  year  than  he  hears  or  speaks 
in  all  the  class  exercises  which  he  attends.  He  becomes, 
therefore,  as  we  sometimes  say  vaguely  in  our  general  dis- 
cussions of  school  activities,  eye-minded.  He  will  begin  to 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE  153 

establish  preferences  for  writing  as  a  means  of  expressing 
his  own  ideas  as  over  against  oral  speech.  As  a  result,  we 
find  that  ordinary  school  training  has  limited  very  greatly 
the  powers  of  oral  expression  in  most  children.  Many  a 
child  and  many  an  adult- finds  himself  able  to  work  out  an 
idea  if  he  is  given  a  pencil  and  paper,  while  he  is  very  far 
from  fluent  in  oral  speech. 

SPECIAL  FORMS  OF  BEHAVIOR  CONNECTED  WITH 
WRITTEN  LANGUAGE 

The  special  psychology  of  the  reading  and  writing  proc- 
esses includes,  in  addition  to  the  foregoing  discussion  of  the 
relation  of  writing  to  oral  speech,  a  study  of  certain  special 
forms  of  motor  adjustments.  We  cannot  enter  into  these 
details  at  this  point.  It  is  enough  to  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  there  are  special  movements  of  the  eyes  which 
must  be  acquired  by  one  who  reads,  and  there  are  special 
movements  of  the  hands  and  fingers  which  must  be  acquired 
by  the  child  who  is  learning  to  write.  Oral  expression  re- 
mains, however,  the  fundamental  form  of  language  expres- 
sion throughout  education,  as  shown  by  the  fact  that  there 
is  a  tendency  to  articulate  even  when  one  reads  and  writes. 
Oral  expression  is,  however,  reduced  to  its  lowest  terms  in 
the  course  of  development.  The  ordinary  observer  may 
hardly  be  aware  of  the  remnant  of  vocalization  present  when 
he  reads  or  writes.  Careful  observation  will  show  him  that 
such  movements  are  present,  and  scientific  studies  have 
furnished  abundant  evidence  that  we  never  lose  entirely 
the  tendency  to  articulate. 

The  problems  of  language  instruction  are  thus  multiplied 
as  we  recognize  the  various  kinds  of  language  activities 
which  have  arisen  in  modern  society,  and  the  complexities  of 
behavior  which  appear  in  the  forms  of  language  conscious- 
ness cultivated  in  connection  with  reading  and  writing. 


154    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

REDUCTION  OF  BODILY  ACTIVITIES  TO  A  MINIMUM 

Before  we  turn  to  the  application  of  our  studies  of 
language,  it  is  important  that  we  should  dwell  upon  the 
fact  mentioned  incidentally  a  moment  ago.  With  the  de- 
velopments of  meanings  in  words  there  has  been  a  gradual 
reduction  of  the  motor  processes  that  are  involved.  This 
reduction  of  movements  appears  not  only  in  the  processes 
that  accompany  recognition  of  words,  but  also,  and  perhaps 
more  completely,  in  the  motor  processes  that  are  involved  in 
the  interpretation  of  words.  The  simplification  and  reduc- 
tion of  the  interpreting  reaction  have  gone  so  far  in  most 
cases  that  they  eluded  the  earlier  writers  on  psychology. 
Take  such  words  as  express  anger,  and  study  their  effect 
on  both  speaker  and  listener.  Such  words  arouse  activities 
in  the  inner  muscles  of  the  body.  I  say  to  my  neighbor 
that  I  will  not  tolerate  so  and  so.  We  are  both  roused  to 
a  pitch  of  excitement  that  can  be  described  only  in  terms 
of  strong  internal  reaction.  Other  words  are  less  exciting, 
but  have  this  same  relation  to  inner  behavior;  interpreta- 
tion of  all  words  depends  upon  these  internal  attitudes. 

WORDS  AS  SUBSTITUTES  FOE  DIRECT  EXPERIENCES 

When  one  realizes  that  words  are  thus  interpreted 
through  direct  association  with  bodily  reactions,  a  problem 
of  language  consciousness  which  has  long  confused  teachers 
is  at  once  cleared  up.  Through  its  association  with  reac- 
tions the  word  becomes  a  substitute  for  external  impres- 
sions and  makes  it  possible  for  the  speaker  and  listener  to 
have  a  whole  train  of  vivid  experiences  without  calling  up 
any  images  or  having  any  objects  whatsoever  in  mind. 
This  statement  can  be  illustrated  as  follows :  When  I  seize 
an  object  I  get  at  first  an  impression  of  that  thing;  if 
the  impression  is  disagreeable,  I  react  by  pushing  it  away. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE  155 

The  end  of  the  whole  process  is  the  pushing  away.  Later, 
as  I  become  acquainted  with  the  thing,  I  push  it  away  with- 
out examining  it  in  detail;  that  is,  without  a  complete 
impression  of  it.  Finally,  the  merest  suggestion  that  the 
thing  is  there  will  arouse  the  reaction.  The  reaction  can 
now  be  detached  from  the  thing  and  can  be  attached  to 
some  substitute  for  the  thing.  Thus  the  word  "  danger  " 
sounded  in  my  ear  causes  me  to  jump.  The  word  "  danger  " 
is  a  substitute  for  an  impression  or  an  idea  of  a  dangerous 
thing.  The  words  "  rough "  and  "  smooth"  arouse  in  me  con- 
trasting experiences  without  any  necessity  of  first  handling 
some  rough  or  smooth  thing.  The  words  have  in  all  these 
cases  taken  meanings  to  themselves ;  that  is,  they  have  taken 
on  connection  with  interpreting  forms  of  behavior. 

It  is  not  alone  in  the  sphere  of  emotional  interpretation 
that  words  become  independent  of  the  experiences  from 
which  they  first  derived  their  meaning.  Take  for  purposes 
of  illustration  such  words  as  "  up  "  and  "  down."  These 
words  were  at  first  interpreted  to  us  in  childhood  by  some- 
one who  pointed  upward  or  looked  upward  when  he  used 
the  word  "  up."  Sometimes  the  word  was  associated  with 
the  observation  of  a  flight  of  stairs  or  a  ladder.  Ultimately 
all  these  experiences  were  condensed  into  a  few  faint  ten- 
dencies to  roll  the  eyes  upward  or  downward,  and  the  adult 
thus  appreciates  in  an  easy  way,  through  a  mere  tendency 
to  move,  the  meaning  which  the  child  had  to  learn  through 
many  experiences  and  much  effort.  Furthermore,  the  roll- 
ing upward  of  the  eyes  has,  in  the  course  of  mental  devel- 
opment, attached  itself  not  only  to  tall  things  and  high  things 
but  also  to  such  matters  as  abstract  values,  as  when  we  say 
that  prices  have  gone  up.  Again,  we  say  that  a  man's  career 
is  downward.  Words  thus  come  to  have  a  value  of  their 
own  without  going  back  to  things  for  their  interpretation. 
Furthermore,  words  have  a  value  for  mental  life  which 
they  could  never  have  if  they  merely  called  up  images. 


156     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

WORDS  INDEPENDENT  OF  PICTURES  IN  THE  MIND 

Such  a  view  of  the  psychology  of  words  is  in  'the  most 
fundamental  opposition  to  the  view  which  teaches  that 
words  get  their  meanings  by  calling  up  pictures.  That  view 
thinks  of  a  word  as  a  clumsy  device  for  reviving  in  the 
mind  something  more  useful ;  namely,  an  image.  That  view 
is  obviously  disproved  by  all  experience.  It  fails  in  the  first 
place  to  explain  that  great  host  of  words  for  which  there 
could  in  the  nature  of  the  case  be  no  images.  Think  of  such 
a  word  as  "  appalling  "  or  "  inconvenient "  and  it  will  in- 
stantly be  recognized  that  only  in  the  most  artificial  way 
can  such  words  be  attached  to  pictures  in  the  mind.  But 
the  doctrine  of  images  fails  at  a  second  and,  on  the  whole, 
much  more  crucial  point.  Words  grew  up  at  first  as  means 
of  social  intercourse,  but  once  they  had  developed  they 
proved  to  be  of  such  value  to  individual  thought  that  they 
have  very  largely  taken  the  place  of  all  the  other  means  of 
individual  thought.  Even  if  images  were  the  natural  instru- 
ments of  thought  before  words  came,  it  is  certain  that  now 
the  greater  part  of  the  world's  thinking  is  done  with  words. 
Images  would  be  too  clumsy  for  the  mind  which  has  learned 
the  use  of  words.  A  moment's  consideration  of  what  has 
passed  through  the  reader's  consciousness  during  the  last 
few  moments  will  convince  him  that  he  does  not  stop  to 
develop  pictures.  The  fact  is  that  words  take  on  a  char- 
acter of  their  own.  Contrasting  words  are  immediately 
recognized  as  opposed.  Related  words  are  thought  of  as 
capable  of  combination.  The  psychological  mechanism  of 
interpretation  can  be  understood  in  terms  of  tendencies 
toward  reaction.  When  words  contrast,  one  feels  within 
himself  opposing  tendencies.  When  the  word  "  appalling  " 
strikes  the  ear,  one  feels  his  muscular  system  respond  with 
a  cringmgi  expectant  shock.  When  one  hears  the  word 
"  magnificent "  he  feels  a  muscular  expansion  long  before 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE  157 

he  is  able  by  any  exercise  of  imagination  to  place  before 
his  mind  a  picture  of  a  magnificent  object. 

A  very  instructive  analysis  of  experiences  connected  with 
different  words  is  given  by  Miss  Rowland.1  We  may  there- 
fore quote  at  length  from  her  work. 


Miss  Rowland  presented  to  her  subjects  certain  series  of 
words  such  as  the  following :  "  entrance,"  "  enter,"  "  in," 
"inner";  "weight,"  "lift,"  "heavy,"  "under,"  and  so  on; 
and  asked  the  subjects  to  observe  carefully  the  moment  at 
which  they  understood  the  meaning  of  the  word  and  the 
mental  processes  which  passed  through  their  minds  during 
the  apprehension  of  this  meaning.  In  describing  the  results 
Miss  Rowland  says  that  her  subjects  noted  three  stages  in 
the  development  of  meaning. 

(1)  A  feeling  of  familiarity  with  the  word,  that  she  [the  sub- 
ject] would  know  presently  what  it  meant  (this  stage  of  word 
meaning  has  been  called  "  Implicit  Apprehension  "  by  Stout,  in 
his  discussion  of  this  matter  in  his  "Analytic  Psychology"). 
(2)  She  then  felt  she  would  know  how  to  use  it,  that  is,  the  actual 
meaning  came  before  (3)  the  images  unrolled  themselves  in  all 
their  variety  in  the  third  stage.  In  other  words,  the  images 
in  the  third  stage  seemed  sometimes  to  stay  the  same  for  two 
words  of  allied  meaning,  whereas  she  felt  at  once  there  was  a 
difference  in  their  meaning  or  their  use.  Although  visual  im- 
ages were  always  present  when  she  attempted  to  define  meaning, 
they  seemed  arbitrary  and  not  to  express  its  essence.  She  had, 
so  far  as  she  could  discriminate,  exactly  the  same  visual  image 
for  drink  and  for  water,  that  is,  a  person  drinking  water  in  both 
•cases,  yet  the  difference  in  meaning  was  evident  and  remained 

1  Eleanor  H.  Rowland,  "The  Psychological  Experiences  Connected 
with  the  Different  Parts  of  Speech,"  Monograph  Supplement  No.  32, 
of  the  Psychological  Review,  January,  1907. 


158    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

the  same  with  all  kinds  of  Voluntary  changes  of  the  images. 
For  this  reason,  she  felt  that  the  meaning  came  with  the  second 
stage.  The  sound  of  the  word  was  familiar,  and  then  she  knew 
what  it  meant,  that  is,  she  had  a  peculiar  feeling  of  knowing 
just  what  to  do  about  it,  whereas  the  images  appropriate  to 
the  occasion  (whether  pictures,  the  word  written,  or  what  not), 
although  present  when  she  attended  to  them,  seemed  more  or 
less  arbitrary.  Of  course  in  a  sense  any  idea  or  any  feeling  is 
an  image,  and  one  might  contend  that  the  feeling  of  knowing 
how  to  use  words  was  a  memory-image  of  former  use  or  some- 
thing of  the  sort.  But  it  seems  to  the  writer  that  such  a  broad 
use  of  the  word  image,  applying  it  to  any  possible  mental  state, 
simply  vitiates  its  own  particular  significance.  -When  image  is 
used  in  this  discussion  it  will  refer  to  reproduced  sensations 
whether  of  sight,  hearing,  touch,  or  any  other;  whereas  feel- 
ings, attitude  of  like  or  dislike,  tensions,  etc.,  will  be  designated 
as  such.  The  subject  admitted  that  no  definition  could  be  given 
of  the  word  without  some  visual  or  auditory  images,  some 
specialized  associations.  But  she  also  insisted  she  felt  what  it 
meant  before  she  could  define  it,  even  to  herself,  and  that 
if  she  waited  for  images  to  elucidate  the  feeling,  there  was  no 
determining  where  to  stop. 

On  page  5  Miss  Rowland  defines  somewhat  more  fully,  in 
the  following  statement,  what  is  meant  by  one  of  the  stages. 

EMPHASIS  ON  REACTIONS 

The  feeling  of  word  meaning  is  apparently  composed  of 
knowing  how  to  react  on  it  to  some  extent.  This  reaction  is 
at  its  lowest  stage  when  the  ability  to  react  is  solely  to  write 
or  speak  it,  or  even  to  give  some  approximate  imitation  of  it  in 
tone  or  articulation.  This  knowledge  of  reaction  varies  in  com- 
plexity. It  may  be  only  slight  knowledge  of  the  general  nature 
of  reaction,  that  is,  it  is  an  imperative  to  do  something,  although 
just  what  is  not  recognized.  Or  it  may  be  a  rich  complex  of 
varied  and  discriminating  associations.  This  necessary  reaction 
means  physiologically  that  the  sound  of  the  word  has  brought 
a  train  of  associations  with  it  and  in  going  over  into  its 
centrifugal  discharges,  the  number  and  extent  of  open  channels 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE  159 

varies  largely.  If  nothing  is  known  of  the  meaning  of  the  word, 
but  it  is  articulated  by  the  human  voice,  the  feeling  of  famil- 
iarity or  vague  consciousness  of  meaning  (when  in  truth  it  has 
no  ulterior  significance)  is  merely  the  general  feeling  of  the 
organism  which  accompanies  the  opening  of  the  channels  appro- 
priate to  reproducing  the  word  by  speech  or  writing.  If  the 
word  was  too  complicated  to  be  reproduced  accurately,  simply 
an  approximate  reproduction  would  be  sufficient.  There  need 
be  no  actual  felt  tendency  to  reproduce,  indeed  no  strain  or 
sensation  of  any  kind.  But  the  very  sensory  stimulus  of  the 
sound  must  have  some  motor  discharge  before  it  can  become 
a  conscious  state.  The  combined  discharge  of  the  associated 
auditory  or  written  images  which  may  be  with  it  (more  or  less 
distinctly)  gives  a  certain  balance  or  set,  to  consciousness ;  that 
balance  gives  rise  to  its  own  peculiar  feeling ;  and  that  feeling  is 
the  skeleton  of  its  so-called  meaning.  If  on  receiving  the  stimu- 
lus there  was  not  even  a  reactive  tendency  to  reproduce  the 
word,  the  last  vestige  of  its  meaning  as  a  word  would  be  gone. 

Miss  Rowland's  analysis  of  the  different  parts  of  speech 
shows  that  while  the  imagery  for  different  words  may  be  the 
same,  the  particular  significance  of  the  different  parts  of 
speech  is  brought  out  in  the  accessory  feelings  of  reaction 
which  characterize  each.  Without  attempting  to  report  in 
full  her  findings  with  regard  to  all  of  the  different  kinds  of 
words,  we  may  repeat  her  statement  with  regard  to  adjec- 
tives. Adjectives  differ  from  nouns,  in  that  the  former  are 
more  likely  to  call  up  visual  images.  Even  if  one  accepts 
the  general  theory,  that  a  noun  gets  its  full  meaning  through- 
the  association  of  the  word  with  images,  the  adjective  has  a 
character  which  is  to  be  defined  as  follows : 

SPECIAL  MENTAL  PROCESSES  CONNECTED  WITH 
ADJECTIVES 

Adjectives  seem  to  be  more  intimate,  more  personal  words 
than  any  yet  given.  Several  phrases  were  used  by  the  subject 
in  explanation  such  as  "  broader  feeling  than  noun,"  "  seems 
to  spread  over  the  whole  of  me,"  and  it  was  noticeable  that 


160     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

almost  invariably  some  feeling-tone  was  connected  with  the 
adjective.  Although  the  adjectives  were  thought  of  as  applying 
to  something  else,  the  meaning  was  felt  in  terms  of  their  effect 
on  the  person.  Thus,  in  all  the  phrases  "  sharp  wind,"  "  sharp 
knife,"  "  sharp  rebuke,"  "  sharp  pain,"  the  abiding  sense  of 
sharp,  although  applied  to  different  objects,  meant  a  subjective 
cringe.  The  likeness  of  all  these  various  nouns  was  solely  in 
the  fact  that  they  produced  the  same  kind  of  a  shiver.  The 
adjective  state  of  mind  is  composed  of  a  definite  qualitative 
content.  It  involves  no  purposive  action,  no  feeling  of  the  self 
as  agent  and  acting  toward  an  end  or  of  anything  else  doing 
so.  It  is  concerned  with  subjective  reaction  regardless  of  what 
it  acts  on  or  any  end  to  be  accomplished. 

SENTENCES  AS  PSYCHOLOGICAL  UNITS 

Finally,  one  quotation  may  be  made  from  Miss  Rowland's 
statement  of  the  way  in  which  words  are  used  in  sentences. 

The  tendency  in  all  higher  word  combinations  is  to  tempo- 
rarily deprive  the  words  of  all  associations  that  do  not  contrib- 
ute to  the  meaning  of  a  sentence  as  a  whole.  The  span  of 
attention  is  limited,  and  if  we  had  as  complete  a  reaction  as 
I  have  described  for  each  word  in  a  sentence,  we  should  be  lost 
in  the  meaning  of  the  parts  before  we  could  combine  them  in 
a  whole.  We  do  not  give  equal  value  to  the  different  parts  of 
a  sentence,  but  we  dwell  on  the  more  important  words,  while 
those  of  lesser  interest  serve,  not  as  independent  words,  but 
simply  as  parts  of  the  associative  cluster  that  makes  up  the 
meanings  of  the  others. 

The  meaning  of  a  word  in  a  sentence  varies,  and  demands 
strictly  a  change  in  word-form  to  express  this  variation,  as  one 
or  another  of  its  associations  or  motor  reactions  is  sacrificed 
for  the  more  concise  meaning  of  the  sentence. 

The  tendency  of  language  development  for  practical  and 
scientific  purposes  is  all  in  the  direction  of  economizing  the 
separate  word-reactions,  for  the  sake  of  the  meaning  of  the 
sentences  as  wholes.  But  in  these  cases,  while  we  get  more 
meaning  from  the  sentence  than  we  could  from  any  separate 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LANGUAGE  161 

word,  we  are  not  getting  as  wide  an  individual  meaning  from 
any  one  word  as  if  we  heard  it  alone.  The  words  limit  each 
other,  and  by  their  very  definiteness  cut  off  the  extent  of  their 
individual  significance. 

SUGGESTIONS  OF  A  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  A  LITERARY  STYLE 

The  highest  literary  style  consists  of  a  nice  adjustment  of 
values,  where  the  words  mean  all  that  they  possibly  can,  with- 
out confusing  the  combined  meaning  of  them  all.  On  the  other 
hand,  scientific  style  of  expression  differs,  in  that  the  separate 
words  are  allowed  only  as  much  independent  significance  as  is 
necessary  for  the  sentence  to  have  a  meaning.  This  prevents 
any  doubleness  of  interpretation,  and  more  can  be  crowded  into 
a  single  given  space.  In  general,  a  phrase  may  become  a  kind  of 
elongated  word,  and  may  have  meanings  in  every  way  analogous 
to  word-units  as  we  have  studied  them.  When  these  phrase- 
experiences  are  described,  however,  the  analysis  must  fall  into 
the  same  terms  as  we  have  used  for  the  word-experiences. 

WORLD  OF  WORDS 

The  world  of  thought  is  enormously  expanded  by  the 
creation  and  use  of  words.  It  is  little  wonder  that  man  for 
long  ages  thought  of  himself  as  absolutely  distinct  from  the 
rest  of  the  animal  kingdom.  Man  lives  in  a  world  of  words ; 
the  animals  live  in  a  world  of  things  and. memories  of 
things.  To  those  who  can  use  words  so  as  to  influence  the 
rest  of  us  we  give  society's  great  rewards.  To  the  combi- 
nations of  ideas  which  have  been  worked  out  in  words,  we 
owe  changes  that  have  later  been  wrought  out  in  things. 
In  short,  our  civilization  rests  on  words  more  than  on  things 
themselves,  for  our  civilization  differs  from  primitive,  un- 
couth conditions  chiefly  because  the  economical  methods 
of  thought  and  action  made  possible  by  words  have  trans- 
formed our  relation  to  the  world  and  put  at  man's  disposal 
forces  which  could  not  have  been  discovered  or  mastered 
without  the  higher  modes  of  abstract  thought. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  ENGLISH  PROBLEM 

INSTRUCTION  IN  THE  VERNACULAR  LATE 

The  problem  of  finding  the  true  place  of  English  in  the 
school  course  of  study  can  be  understood  only  by  recalling 
the  historical  fact  that  in  the  beginning  no  one  thought  of 
the  vernacular  as  a  suitable  subject  for  school  training.  It 
was  assumed,  and  is,  indeed,  assumed  to-day  by  many  people 
that  one  can  acquire  his  native  tongue  without  any  special 
education.  Foreign  languages,  it  was  recognized  from  the 
beginning,  must  be  taught  by  a  teacher,  and  the  subject 
matter  which  enters  into  science  and  history  evidently  re- 
quires to  be  taught  before  it  can  be  mastered ;  but  the  use 
of  common  words  and  the  formation  of  common  sentences 
'  are  assumed  as  a  part  of  the  informal  training  of  the  child 
through  his  home  and  through  his  everyday  environment. 
We  read  in  the  history  of  education,  therefore,  how  the 
vernacular  was  brought  into  the  school  by  the  special  plea 
of  Martin  Luther  and  his  successors  as  an  innovation  in 
the  educational  system.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  Reformation 
the  languages  taught  had  all  of  them  been  the  remote  and 
unusual  languages. 

UNFAMILIAR  ASPECTS  OF  LANGUAGE  FIRST  EMPHASIZED 

Coming  down  to  the  modern  period  we  find  something 
analogous  to  the  movement  which  was  inaugurated  at  the 
time  of  the  Reformation.  We  find  that  the  high  school  of  a 
generation  ago  assumed  that  the  student  would  get  English 

162 


THE  ENGLISH  PEOBLEM  163 

incidentally  as  a  part  of  the  rest  of  his  work.  Up  to  that 
time  the  lower  schools  had  indeed  recognized  the  impor- 
tance of  teaching  reading.  Like  a  foreign  language,  reading 
requires  acquaintance  with  a  set  of  symbols  which  do  not 
confront  the  child  in  his  ordinary  home  life  or  in  his  play 
on  the  street.  The  early  New  England  school,  founded 
explicitly  as  a  reading  school,  was  therefore  a  very  natural 
concession  to  the  demands  of  society  for  the  special  training 
of  children ;  but  the  New  England  reading  school  was  not 
a  place  where  the  child  was  trained  in  oral  language.  So 
also  the  high  school  of  a  generation  ago  was  absorbed  in  a 
kind  of  training  which  emphasized  very  little  the  common 
use  of  the  mother  tongue.  The  high  school  put  into  the 
hands  of  its  students  many  books  which  they  were  required 
to  use,  but  there  was  little  or  no  pretense  at  training  chil- 
dren in  modes  of  common  speech  or  in  the  use  of  common 
forms  of  conversation.  The  only  phase  of  the  vernacular 
which  was  taught  in  these  schools  was  formal  grammar, 
that  is,  the  structure  of  language.  The  upper  grades  of 
the  elementary  school  usually  went  over  grammar  in  great 
detail,  but  in  some  cases  the  course  commenced  in  the  high 
school.  Grammar,  as  the  science  of  language,  was  taught 
in  imitation  of  the  methods  prevalent  in  teaching  the  classics, 
on  the  assumption  that  the  student  would  know  the  words 
and  sentences  of  the  language  before  he  began  to  take  up 
the  rules  of  parsing  and  grammatical  agreement.1  Still 
later,  when  some  training  in  the  use  of  words  was  brought 
into  the  school  as  a  substitute  for  pure  grammar,  it  was 
found  that  written  composition  received  the  emphasis.  It 
is  even  to-day  assumed  that  the  ordinary  child  can  talk,  but 
it  is  conceded  that  he  cannot  write  well ;  hence  the  school 
must  take  his  writing  in  hand.  The  spirit  of  all  these  efforts 
to  bring  the  vernacular  into  the  course  of  study  is  the  same. 

1 F.  A.  Barbour,  The  Teaching  of  English  Grammar :   History  and 
Method.    Ginn  and  Company,  1902. 


164     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

They  all  begin  with  the  remote,  the  unusual,  and  the  ab- 
stract. It  is  very  hard  to  organize  any  plan  of  school  work 
which  will  emphasize  the  common  use  of  the  vernacular. 

ENGLISH  COMMONLY  TREATED  AS  A  SPECIAL  SUBJECT 

At  the  present  time  we  are  in  the  curious  situation  of 
desiring  to  recognize  the  vernacular  to  the  fullest  possible 
extent,  and  yet  we  are  unable  to  see  that  the  vernacular 
means  expression  whenever  and  wherever  it  appears.  Every 
one  realizes  that  students  are  defective  in  their  oral  expres- 
sions even  in  their  English  recitations.  Students,  after 
years  of  schooling,  do  not  know  how  to  carry  on  for  any 
length  of  time  a  coherent  and  continued  discussion  —  evi- 
dence enough  that  the  schools  and  the  English  department 
have  not  mastered  their  problem  of  training  children  in 
coherent  common  use  of  the  vernacular.  It  is  assumed  that 
children  will  be  able  to  get  on  in  history  and  physics  and 
mathematics  because  the  vernacular  is  there  the  common 
medium  of  expression.  The  fact  is  that  half  the  difficulty 
of  children  in  these  subject-matter  courses  arises  from  their 
inability  to  understand  English  sentences.  The  English 
department  and  the  school  in  general  continue  to  assume 
that  the  business  of  the  English  department  is  to  deal  only 
with  those  unusual  phases  of  the  vernacular  which  are  not 
of  daily  significance.  Therefore  we  find  the  English  classes 
devoting  themselves  to  composition  or  literary  studies  of  a 
type  which  has  very  little  relation  to  practical  life  and  little 
relation  to  the  rest  of  the  work  of  the  school. 

In  opposition  to  the  assumption  that  English  is  a  special 
subject  the  effort  is  sometimes  made  to  call  attention  to  the 
desirability  of  a  constant  supervision  of  the  use  of  the  ver- 
nacular throughout  the  day  and  throughout  all  of  the  activ- 
ities of  the  students.  This  plea  gets  scanty  hearing,  because 
our  educational  system  at  the  present  time  is  divided  into 


THE  ENGLISH  PROBLEM  165 

a  number  of  special  interests,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  one 
now  responsible  for  the  general  training  of  students  except, 
possibly,  administrative  officers.  One  reads  with  a  good 
deal  of  interest  the  plea  of  the  English  teacher  that  he  is 
quite  unable  to  master  the  situation  because  he  has  no 
authority  over  other  members  of  the  high-school  faculty;1 
that  only  the  principal  can  bring  about  the  reforms  which 
are  now  needed  in  English  training  in  the  schools.  This 
means,  from  the  side  of  the  English  teachers,  that  they 
are  unable  for  some  reason  to  present  with  compelling 
force  arguments  in  favor  of  a  general  cultivation  of  the 
mother  tongue. 

Members  of  other  departments  undoubtedly  look  upon 
the  work  of  the  English  department  as  a  special  and  closely 
delimited  phase  of  training.  Teachers  of  English  in  the 
high  schools  are  thought  of  as  a  group  of  people  who  have 
been  trained  in  a  specialty.  That  specialty  is  literary  form. 
The  ordinary  English  teacher  knows  the  classics  of  our 
language  and  is  interested  in  bringing  to  the  attention  of 
students  the  virtues  of  these  English  classics.  He  would 
encourage  the  student  to  imitate  these  classics  much  as  the 
teacher  of  Latin  used  to  try  to  induce  his  students  to  imi- 
tate Cicero.  For  the  most  part  English  teachers,  trained 
as  literary  critics,  are  wholly  unaware  of  the  fact  that  their 
place  on  the  program  of  the  high  school  of  to-day  depends 
upon  something  more  fundamental  than  interest  in  literary 
form.  When,  therefore,  the  English  teacher  gives  a  course 
which  is  virtually  a  course  in  the  history  of  literary  form 
coupled  with  a  few  technical  exercises  which  aim  to  culti- 
vate literary  form  in  his  students,  he  widens  the  chasm 
between  himself  and  all  of  the  other  departments,  since 
the  other  departments  are  interested  in  the  vernacular  for 

1  James  F.  Hosic,  "The  Cooperation  of  All  Departments  in  the 
Teaching  of  English  Composition,"  Proceedings  of  the  National  Educa- 
tion Association,  1913,  p.  478.  See  also  School  Review,  1913,  p.  598. 


166    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

wholly  different,  reasons.  The  man  who  teaches  science  can- 
not be  made  excessively  enthusiastic  about  literary  form 
and  its  history.  His  use  of  English  is  for  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent reason.  He  may  not  know  how  to  tell  the  English 
department  just  what  he  wants.  Indeed,  he  is  often  so  dis- 
gusted with  the  work  which  is  now  done  in  English  that 
he  will  not  take  pains  even  to  consider  how  the  English 
department  may  be  improved.1 

GRAVE  DANGERS  OF  SPECIALIZATION 

There  is  a  lack  of  unity  of  purpose  and  lack  of  sympathy 
in  the  handling  of  expression  in  schools  which  grows  out  of 
the  fact  that  both  the  man  of  science  and  the  teacher  of 
English  are  specialists.  •  Illustration  after  illustration  of  this 
highly  specialized  interest  can  be  found  in  the  current 
literature  which  deals  with  the  teaching  of  English  in  the 
high  school.  There  is  a  conspicuous  illustration  of  this  in 
Mr.  Percival  Chubb's  book,  "The  Teaching  of  English."2 
The  book  sets  forth  in  vigorous  terms  the  desirability  of 
more  training  in  English  in  the  high  school  and  the  elemen- 
tary school.  In  his  effort  to  define  the  general  purpose  of 
English  during  the  adolescent  period,  Mr.  Chubb  says  on 

1  An  anonymous  writer  in  a  communication  published  in  Science, 
September  4,  1914  (JV.S.,  Vol.  XL),  pp.  344-346,  gives  an  excellent 
example  of  the  temper  of  the  teacher  of  science  toward  rhetoric.   The 
communication  is  an  answer  to  a  review  published  in  the  February  (1914) 
issue  of  Modem  Language  Notes  of  "Representative  Essays  in  Modern 
Thought,"  by  Steeves  and  Ristine.   The  book  under  discussion  is  written 
in  the  effort  to  stimulate  the  study  of  other  forms  of  literature  than  the 
belles  lettres  commonly  taken  up  in  English  courses.    The  conclusion  of 
the  discussion  is  given  in  the  following  sentence  :  "  And  yet,  if  rhetoric 
instructors  do  not  awake,  some  time  or  other  scientists,  engineers,  and 
lawyers  will  somehow  face  the  problem  of  themselves  instilling  the  prin- 
ciples of  unity  and  coherence  into  their  promising  students."   The  whole 
communication  is  a  most  urgent  plea  for  the  study  of  themes  of  a  scien- 
tific and  practical  type. 

2  Published  by  The  Macmillan  Company,  1909. 


THE  ENGLISH  PEOBLEM  167 

page  239  that  one  of  the  main  divisions  of  literature  which 
should  receive  attention  in  the  secondary  school  is  that 
which  deals  with  vocational  subjects.  He  reviews  enthusi- 
astically the  position  taken  by  G.  Stanley  Hall,  that  the  vast 
majority  of  high-school  graduates  should  get  social  training 
through  the  vernacular.  They  should  be  given  that  kind  of 
reading  and  opportunity  for  expression  which  will  prepare 
them  for  social  and  personal  life  in  the  vocations.  One 
reads  this  part  of  the  book  with  great  interest,  and  assumes 
that  now,  at  least,  we  have  reached  the  point  where  the 
vocations  are  to  receive  adequate  attention  from  the  Eng- 
lish teachers.  He  goes  on  through  the  book,  and,  to  his 
astonishment,  finds  that  all  of  the  references  to  books  that 
are  actually  to  be  used  are  of  the  conventional  literary  type. 
There  is  not  "mentioned  in  the  whole  volume  a  single  book 
of  a  strictly  technical  type.  The  specialist  in  English  liter- 
ature has  once  more  shown  that  he  does  not  have  any  idea 
of  his  duty  to  the  vernacular  in  general.  One  is  reminded 
of  the  story  told  by  the  high-school  principal,  who,  after 
urging  his  English  teachers  to  put  in  some  vocational  read- 
ing, encountered  a  teacher  glowing  with  enthusiasm  because 
of  her  success  in  complying  with  his  suggestion.  She  was 
reading  "  Silas  Marner  "  with  her  class,  and  since  Silas  was 
a  weaver,  she  was  introducing  vocational  ideas  at  the  same 
time  that  she  satisfied  the  college-entrance  requirements. 

ENGLISH  PROGRAM  SHOULD  BE  REDUCED 

Probably  the  whole  fraternity  of  teachers  of  English 
would  ask,  if  they  were  confronted  by  such  a  remark  as  the 
foregoing,  "  What  is  expected  ?  Are  the  high  schools  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  reading  of  books  on  mechanics? 
Is  the  English  department  failing  to  do  its  duty  when  it 
devotes  itself  to  its  proper  task  of  training  students  to 
appreciate  and  produce  higher  things  ?  "  The  argument 


168     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

would  undoubtedly  be  presented  that  it  is  the  business  of 
the  English  department  to  see  to  it  that  the  student  carries 
away  an  appreciation  of  those  books  which  are  not  discussed 
in  the  other  classes.  Undoubtedly  there  is  some  justification 
for  this  specialized  kind  of  training ;  but  the  point  which  is 
to  be  made  is  that  the  school  program  of  the  present  day 
gives  to  English  an  amount  of  time  which  is  entirely  at 
variance  with  the  assumption  that  English  is  a  specialized 
subject.  No  high-school  faculty  which  votes  for  four  years 
of  English  to  be  required  of  every  student  would  vote  that 
amount  of  time  if  the  statement  could  be  explicitly  put 
before  them  that  these  courses  are  all  to  be  devoted  to  the 
development  of  literary  form.  This  amount  of  time  is  voted 
because  it  is  assumed  that  English  somehow  is  to  be  regarded 
as  a  fundamental,  underlying  subject,  of  more  significance 
in  the  life  of  students  than  any  other  single  subject.  The 
deplorable  fact  is  that  after  all  of  this  tune  has  been  given 
to  English  teachers,  they  do  not  realize  that  it  is  their  duty 
to  distribute  it  in  some  fashion  which  will  comport  with 
the  assumption  on  which  the  time  was  given.  Perhaps  two 
courses  in  our  present-day  high-school  course  of  study 
could  be  justified  as  requirements  if  English  continues  to 
be  what  it  is  now,  namely,  training  in  literary  form ;  but 
certainly  there  ought  not  to  be  four  courses  required  of 
students,  nor  ought  there  to  be  three,  and  there  may  be 
some  question  whether  it  will  not  be  wiser  to  make  even 
the  second  English  course  elective. 

THE  UNSOLVED  PROBLEM  OP  TEACHING  READING 

There  is  another  aspect  of  this  matter  which  ought,  per- 
haps, to  be  discussed  in  reenforcing  the  general  criticism 
of  English  work  contained  in  the  preceding  paragraph.  It 
is  assumed  that  high-school  students  know  how  to  get  the 
meaning  out  of  paragraphs  which  they  read ;  that  is,  it  is 


THE  ENGLISH  PROBLEM  169 

assumed  that  the  work  of  elementary  education  has  been 
satisfactorily  completed,  and  that  elementary  re'ading  has 
prepared  students  for  all  their  later  work.  The  fact  is,  that 
the.  ordinary  student  does  not  know  how  to  read  economi- 
cally. He  is  very  clumsy  in  his  methods  of  getting  the 
meaning  from  his  textbook  in  history  or  his  textbook  in 
science.  This  deficiency  of  the  high-school  student  is  of 
importance  both  to  the  special  teacher,  who  is  training  the 
student  in  history  and  science,  and  also  to  the  English 
teacher,  who  is  training  him  in  reading.  Both  teachers, 
however,  overlook  the  necessity  of  training  in  reading  and 
in  interpretation  of  what  is  read.  We  have  not  yet  learned 
the  lesson  that  the  commonplace  activities  are,  after  all,  the 
most  important  activities  to  be  trained.  Why  we  should 
assume  that  the  child  knows  how  to  take  up  and  study  a 
book  economically  when  no  one  has  ever  helped  him  to  see 
the  importance  of  economy  in  his  reading,  is  difficult  for  the 
student  of  education  who  is  not  a  specialist  in  English  to 
understand.  To  the  student  of  education  who  sees  history 
and  science  and  English  literature  all  as  phases  of  the  gen- 
eral effort  to  train  the  mental  processes  of  children,  the 
fundamental  and  general  requirement,  that  mental  processes 
be  trained  so  that  mental  work  can  be  done  in  an  economical 
way,  is  more  significant  for  the  child's  training  than  is  the 
demand  for  any  particular  type  of  training.  This  general 
demand,  that  the  student  know  how  to  study,  is  neglected 
by  too  many  teachers  because  they  are  interested  in  some 
particular  subject  matter.  The  psychologist,  on  the  other 
hand,  who  insists  upon  the  recognition  of  the  general  fun- 
damental needs  of  all  students,  discovers  that  there  is  no 
one  especially  charged  in  the  school  with  the  duty  of  train- 
ing children  how  to  use  books. 

The  critical  student  of  education  feels  justified  in  charg- 
ing this  deficiency  most  heavily  against  the  teachers  of 
English  because  they  have  so  much  time  given  them  and 


170    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

because  they  have  so  little  content  requiring  to  be  taken  up. 
But  the  English  teachers,  like  the  other  special  teachers,  are 
contributing  what  they  can  to  the  development  of  uneco- 
nomical habits  of  the  use  of  books.  No  one  who  has  seen 
an  English  class  working  with  the  question-and-answer 
method  on  a  literary  masterpiece,  such  as  "  Ivanhoe "  or 
"  Silas  Marner,"  can  fail  to  recognize  the  fact  that  asking 
questions  about  a  book,  and  asking  questions  in  such  detail 
that  the  student's  attention  is  distracted  from  the  general 
story  to  the  minutiae  of  the  matter  on  successive  pages,  is  the 
worst  possible  preparation  for  the  use  of  books.  English 
teachers  are  absorbed  in  subject  matter  just  as  are  the 
teachers  in  other  departments.  They  are  so  much  absorbed 
in  subject  matter  that  they  do  not  realize  that  they  are  im- 
peding in  many  cases  the  student's  mental  development  in 
the  use  of  books.  It  would  be  very  much  better  to  allow  a 
student  to  read  the  whole  of  "  Ivanhoe  "  through  at  four  or 
five  sittings  than  to  spread  the  study  of  this  book  over  half  a 
year.  Requiring  the  student  to  digest  a  story  in  small  frag- 
ments and  to  answer  the  most  minute  questions  with  regard 
to  each  fragment  is  to  cultivate  a  habit  of  mind  with  regard 
to  books  which  is  utterly  disastrous  for  later  life.  The  stu- 
dent gets  an  impression  that  a  story  of  this  sort  is  a  Hercu- 
lean intellectual  problem.  He  will  never  be  stimulated  to 
take  up  a  book  of  this  sort  in  leisure  hours  in  his  later  life  if 
he  is  impressed  with  the  immensity  of  the  undertaking. 

THE  SAD  STATE  OF  ENGLISH  COMPOSITION 

What  the  student  of  education  finds  to  criticize  in  the 
class  in  literature  fades  into  insignificance  when  he  follows 
the  English  teacher  into  that  burying  ground  of  human 
interests,  the  class  in  composition.  Where  shall  the  bewil- 
dered observer  begin  his  psychological  analysis  of  these  so- 
called  exercises  ?  Do  they  make  for  economy  of  expression  ? 


THE  ENGLISH  PROBLEM  171 

When  a  student  is  given  one  of  the  usual  subjects 
presented  to  the  composition  class,  he  is  fortunate  if  he 
has  ideas  that  would  cover  half  a  page.  He  is  encouraged 
to  write  these  few  ideas  in  a  form  which  will  cover  three 
or  four  pages.  Indeed,  the  requirement  commonly  set 
down  is  one  which  states  the  amount  required  rather  than 
the  quality.  The  student  is  told  to  write  two  pages  on  a 
given  subject.  Furthermore,  the  subject  is  frankly  acknowl- 
edged to  be  one  which  is  of  no  practical  value.  He  writes 
on  it  in  the  English  class  because  it  is  of  no  value  and 
therefore  can  properly  be  made  a  subject  of  discussion  from 
the  point  of  view  of  its  style  rather  than  from  the  point  of 
view  of  its  usefulness  to  anybody  who  comes  in  contact  with 
it.  A  student  who  has  thus  been  trained  in  the  making  of 
useless  paragraphs  is  likely,  to  look  on  paragraphs  in  general 
as  belonging  to  the  same  type.  He  will  come  to  think  of 
the  writer  of  books  as  a  person  who  has  set  himself  a  task 
of  covering  so  and  so  many  pages  with  words,  and  his  whole 
notion  of  literature  will  be  perverted  by  his  own  frantic 
efforts  to  fulfill  a  certain  requirement  on  a  subject  in  which 
he  is  not  interested  and  on  which  he  has  nothing  to  say.  The 
written  page  comes  to  be  for  him  a  sham  battlefield,  different 
from  the  industries  or  practical  activities  of  life,  where  prac- 
tical efforts  are  made  in  the  spirit  of  serious  accomplishment. 

LOUNSBURY  OX  ENGLISH  COMPOSITION 

Perhaps  one  would  be  less  bold  in  such  estimates  of 
composition  if  he  did  not  have  the  support  of  that  veteran 
teacher  of  English,  Professor  Lounsbury.  In  commenting 
on  required  composition,  even  in  college,  he  writes : 1 

I  am  by  no  means  disposed  to  go  so  far  as  the  historian  of 
New  England,  John  Gorham  Palfrey,  who,  as  I  have  been  told, 

1  Thomas  R.  Lounsbury,  "  Compulsory  Composition  in  Colleges," 
Harper's  Magazine,  November,  1911,  Vol.  CXXIII,  pp.  866-880. 


172     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

was  wont  to  express  the  desire  that  an  act  of  Congress  should 
be  passed  forbidding  on  pain  of  death  anyone  under  twenty-one 
years  of  age  to  write  a  sentence.  Excess  in  one  direction  can 
not  be  remedied  by  excess  in  the  opposite.  Still,  none  the  less 
am  I  thoroughly  convinced  that  altogether  undue  importance 
is  attached  to  exercises  in  -English  composition,  especially 
compulsory  exercises ;  that  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the 
general  practice  in  schools  is  vastly  overrated  ;  that  the  criticism 
of  themes,  even  when  it  is  fully  competent,  is  in  the  majority  of 
cases  of  little  value  to  the  recipient ;  that  in  a  large  number 
of  instances  the  criticism  is  and  must  ever  be  more  or  less  in- 
competent ;  and  that  when  the  corrections  which  are  made  are 
made  inefficiently  and  unintelligently,  as  is  too  often  the  case, 
the  results  are  distinctly  more  harmful  than  helpful.  (P.  869.) 

Professor  Lounsbury  would  have  us  abandon  the  whole 
farce,  and  recognize  that  the  ordinary  student  can  never 
produce  literature  and  never  ought  to  be  perverted  in  his 
tastes  by  having  to  contemplate  his  own  productions.  The 
student  ought  to  be  introduced  in  a  large  and  liberal  way 
to  some  of  the  vital  productions  in  his  mother  tongue,  and 
he  ought  to  have  these  set  before  him  not  as  subjects  for 
minute  scrutiny  and  clumsy  imitation  but  rather  as  examples 
of  documents  which  have  molded  history  and  guided  the 
thinking  of  men  in  politics  and  religion  and  in  the  organi- 
zation of  social  institutions. 

DANGERS  OF  EXTREME  FORMALISM 

The  time  will  certainly  come  when  the  historian  of  edu- 
cation will  look  back  upon  the  present  period  of  high- 
school  composition  and  high-school  dissection  of  literature 
as  one  of  the  most  formal  periods  in  education.  It  will  be 
said  of  us  that  we  gave  up  all  of  the  advantages  of  a 
compact  and  consecutive  course  in  the  classics  before  we 
succeeded  in  bringing  into  the  high-school  curriculum 
anything  that  gives  the  continuity  and  definiteness  of 


THE  ENGLISH  PROBLEM  173 

training  that  these  older  courses  provided.  It  will  be  said 
that  we  wasted  the  time  of  our  students  on  a  type  of  liter- 
ary pedantry  which  did  not  justify  itself  even  to  the  teachers 
of  the  subject  itself.  In  evidence  of  this  the  writings  of  the 
teachers  of  English  will  be  quoted.  There  is  no  group 
of  teachers  who  more  frankly  acknowledge  the  complete 
failure 1  of  the  work  which  they  are  doing.  They  disagree 
with  each  other  at  every  point  with  regard  to  the  content 
and  methodology  of  their  work.  They  frankly  report  the 
results  of  their  own  tests  to  show  that  high-school  students 
and  college  students  alike  fail  to  meet  even  the  most  ele- 
mentary standards  of  achievement  which  are  set  up.  Yet 
they  insist  that  they  must  have  the  time  which  they  now 
occupy,  and  indeed  in  some  quarters  they  clamor  for  more 
time  and  attention.  They  complain  about  the  number  of 
hours  that  they  have  to  spend  in  correcting  compositions, 
and  ask  for  more  assistance.2  They  point  out  the  fact  that 
their  present  mode  of  teaching  wears  out  teachers  so  rapidly 
that  the  average  professional  life  of  an  English  teacher  is 
less  than  that  of  members  of  other  departments.3  In  the 
midst  of  acknowledged  failure  and  chaos  they  keep  insist- 
ing that  what  they  are  doing  is  of  the  highest  importance. 
They  scoff  at  the  courses  in  manual  training  and  voca- 
tional training.  They  criticize  the  sciences  as  uncouth  and 
uneesthetic.  They  charge  the  classics  with  formalism,  and 
they  regard  mathematics  as  abstract  and  uninspiring. 

1  Twenty  Years  of  School  and  College  English.  Published  in  Cam- 
bridge, 1896.  F.  N.  Scott,  "  College  Entrance  Requirements  in  English," 
School  Review,  1901,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  365-378. 

3  "Requirements  for  Admission  to  the  Freshman  English  Course," 
Bulletin  No.  13,  University  of  Wisconsin,  1914.  English  Journal,  Vol.  II, 
1913,  p.  398.  Reports  of  committees  and  Individuals  on  "Amelioration 
of  Conditions,"  published  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  National  Education 
Association,  1912,  pp.  747-765. 

8  James  F.  Hosic,  "The  Advance  Movement  of  Teaching  of  English," 
Proceedings  of  the  National  Education  Association,  1913,  p.  91. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COURSES 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  discuss  the  mental  proc- 
esses which  are  cultivated  in  the  English  courses  ordinarily 
administered  in  high  schools.  We  shall  follow  this  discussion 
by  a  study  of  the  methods  proposed  for  teaching  foreign  lan- 
guages, and  then  come  back  to  the  problem  of  the  relation 
of  verbal  consciousness  to  other  types  of  mental  activity. 

CARPENTER  ON  THE  PURPOSE  OF  ENGLISH  TEACHING 

In  his  statement  of  the  present-day  purpose  of  the  Eng- 
lish course,  Professor  Carpenter l  contrasts  our  period  with 
two  earlier  movements.  First  there  was  a  period  in  which 
grammatical  correctness  was  the  aim.  This  was  the  period 
of  Lindley  Murray  and  Noah  Webster,  and  covers  the  mid- 
dle half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Then  came  from  1874 
on,  after  the  Harvard  entrance  examination  in  English 
was  established,  a  period  of  emphasis  on  rhetorical  study. 
"  The  third  ideal,  that  now  rapidly  coming  into  prominence, 
is  that  of  familiarity  with,  and  appreciation  of,  English 
literature."  Accepting  Professor  Carpenter's  classification, 
we  may  omit  from  discussion  grammar,  except  in  so  far  as 
it  survives  in  the  rhetorics ;  we  must  consider  the  aims  of 
rhetoric,  since  the  rhetoric  period  is  not  yet  passed,  and  we 
must  take  up  the  newer  movement,  which  is  devoted  to 
literary  appreciation. 

1  G.  R.  Carpenter,  F.  B.  Baker,  and  F.  N.  Scott,  The  Teaching  of 
English  in  the  Elementary  and  the  Secondary  Schools,  p.  189.  Long- 
mans, Green,  &  Co.,  1913. 

174 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COURSES     175 

COMPARISON  OP  TEXTBOOKS  ON  RHETORIC 

Within  rhetoric  itself  the  most  conspicuous  change  is 
from  a  long  statement  of  rules  and  principles  to  a  very  great 
abbreviation  of  rules  and  much  attention  to  practice,  espe- 
cially written  practice.  Exercises,  then,  are  an  important 
part  of  any  book  on  composition.1  Indeed,  the  modern  text- 
book often  bears  in  its  title  the  frank  emphasis  upon  exer- 
cises. "  English  Composition,"  "  Essentials  of  Exposition 
and  Argument,"  "  Practical  Training  in  English,"  are 
among  the  familiar  titles  of  the  modern  rhetorics. 

Let  us  contrast  the  chapters  of  one  of  the  newer  rhetorics 
with  the  chapter  headings  of  one  of  the  older  books.  The 
modern  book2  treats,  in  successive  chapters,  The  Sentence ; 
Forms  of  Discourse,  Narration;  Forms  of  Discourse,  De- 
scription ;  Letter  Writing ;  Forms  of  Discourse,  Exposition  ; 
Forms  of  Discourse,  Argumentation;  Figures  of  Speech; 
Verse  Forms.  The  older  book3  has  such  chapters  as  the 
following :  Style  ;  Simplicity  ;  Precision  ;  Purity ;  Perspi- 
cuity in  Sentences ;  Perspicuity  in  General ;  Figures  of 
Speech ;  Figures  of  Relativity  arising  from  the  Perception 
of  Resemblance  ;  Figures  of  Gradation ;  Figures  of  Empha- 
sis ;  Part  III,  Harmony  in  Style  (including  seven  chapters) ; 
Part  V,  The  Emotions  (including  chapters  on  The  Beau- 
tiful, The  Fantastic,  etc.);  Part  VI,  The  General  Depart- 
ments of  Literature  (including  Description,  Narration,  etc.). 

This  contrast  shows  how  greatly  rhetoric  has  been  sim- 
plified. The  older  book  was,  to  be  sure,  used  in  College 
more  frequently  than  in  high  school,  but  it  is  typical  of  the 
painstaking  effort  of  the  rhetoricians  of  that  date  to  be 
inclusive.  The  present-day  rhetorician  aims  to  stimulate 

JW.  F.  Webster,  English  for  Secondary  Schools,  p.  iii.    Houghton 
Mifflin  Company,  1912. 
8  Ibid. 
8  De  Mille,  Elements  of  Rhetoric,  1878. 


176     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

composition,  and  reduces  his  statement  of  principles  to 
the  smallest  possible  compass. 

Turning  now  to  the  remnant  of  rhetoric  which  has  sur- 
vived, we  are  impressed  at  once  with  the  frequent  excursions 
which  every  author  makes  into  psychology.  The  student  is 
called  upon  to  consider  how  language  portrays  ideas. 

Just  as  the  artist  has  to  avoid  certain  combinations  of  colors 
because  they  offend  the  eye,  so  any  person,  using  language  to 
communicate  his  ideas,  must  obey  the  rules  of  language  if  he 
wishes  to  please  people  by  what  he  says.  ...  A  sentence  has 
been  denned  as  a  group  of  words  expressing  a  complete  thought. 
.  .  .  Sentences  may  be  defective  because  they  are  not  the  full 
expression  of  one  complete  thought.1 

RHETORIC  A  FORMAL  STUDY 

These  examples  show  clearly  that  one  of  the  major  func- 
tions of  rhetoric  is  to  turn  the  student's  thought  to  his 
mental  processes  as  distinguished  from  the  content  about 
which  these  processes  are  concerned.  Rhetoric  is  a  science 
of  the  forms  of  thinking  and  expression.  The  older  rhet- 
oricians were  fully  aware  of  the  relation  of  their  subject  to 
logic.  Indeed,  the  old-fashioned  course  was  often  a  course 
which  explicitly  combined  logic  and  rhetoric.  The  high- 
school  student  has  difficulty  with  this  formal  science  because 
he  is  not  mature  enough  to  distinguish  between  his  thought- 
process  and  the  content  of  his  thought.  The  teacher  asks 
him  to  write  on  his  vacation,  and  he  does  so.  He  then  dis- 
covers that  the  teacher  does  not  care  at  all  about  the  vaca- 
tion or  anything  pertaining  to  it.  The  teacher  is  interested 
rather  in  the  way  one  thinks  and  the  way  one  expresses 
himself.  Very  often  the  student  is  still  further  confused 
by  the  contrast  between  thought  and  expression.  He  finds 
that  one  may  have  an  idea,  but  not  be  able  to  get  it  into 

1  W.  F.  Webster,  op.  cit.,  pp.  1,  2,  8. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COURSES     177 

acceptable  form  for  communication.  He  now  has  three 
things  to  consider :  ideas,  how  one  has  ideas  and  arranges 
them,  and  finally  how  one  expresses  ideas. 

The  complexity  of  the  situation  which  thus  faces  the  stu- 
dent is  hardly  understood  by  adults.  Most  mature  minds 
have  faced  in  some  form  or  other  the  distinction  between 
content  of  thought  and  the  forms  of  thought.  But  the 
high-school  student  does  not  readily  grasp  this  distinction 
and  is  seldom  interested  in  the  introspective  facts.  Just  as 
soon  as  an  adult  begins  to  talk  about  forms  of  thought  to 
a  high-school  student  who  is  absorbed  in  some  real  content 
and  quite  unconcerned  about  his  own  mind,  there  is  sure 
to  develop  an  educational  situation  which  is  confused  and 
unproductive.  The  student  is  absorbed  in  things  and  in 
people  and  their  doings.  He  is  not  likely  to  look  into 
his  mind  for  forms  of  thought.  On  the  other  hand,  a  teacher 
who  becomes  absorbed  in  noting  how  his  students  think  and 
express  themselves  will  find  the  problem  of  form  so  inter- 
esting that  he  will  forget  all  about  the  subject  matter.  He 
will  become  an  observer  of  thought-processes  and  modes  of 
expression  and  will  be  unable  to  understand  why  his  students 
are  not  interested,  as  he  is,  in  the  forms  of  experience.  The 
breach  between  student  and  teacher  may  become  infinite. 

There  is  one  common  ground  on  which  teacher  and 
student  may  meet  and  often  do  meet ;  that  is,  in  a  study 
of  the  history  and  structure  of  language.  So  the  study  of 
an  elementary  form  of  science  of  language  comes  to  be  in 
many  cases  the  real  object  of  attention  in  the  rhetoric 
class.  The  history  of  particular  words  is  an  interesting 
chapter  in  this  kind  of  rhetoric.  The  structure  of  the 
sentence,  the  principles  of  agreement  and  subordination, 
become  the  absorbing  topics.  Such  a  study  is  not  with- 
out value.  Students  learn  something  about  language  and 
its  history,  and  they  will  doubtless  be  aided  in  the  long 
run  by  such  knowledge  in  controlling  their  own  expression. 


178     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

There  is  another  sense  in  which  rhetorical  knowledge  of 
the  type  which  we  have  been  discussing  is  formal.  A  stu- 
dent may  know  about  words  and  sentences  and  yet  not 
apply  his  knowledge  in  his  own  performances.  The  psychol- 
ogy of  application  of  knowledge  turns  up  again  here  as  it 
did  in  the  case  of  mathematics.  We  shall  have  to  let  the 
problem  thus  suggested  wait,  noting  that  here,  as  in  other 
courses,  the  problem  of  applications  presents  itself  as  one 
of  the  most  important  problems  in  education. 


THE  FOUR  FUNDAMENTAL  FORMS  OF  DISCOURSE 

There  is  one  series  of  topics  which  appears  in  all  of  the 
rhetorics,  namely,  the  four  fundamental  forms  of  discourse : 
narration,  description,  exposition,  and  argument.  Some 
writers  do  not  attempt  to  deal  with  all ;  some  use  the  clas- 
sification as  the  basis  of  all  their  treatment ;  while  others 
touch  upon  it  only  lightly,  devoting  the  major  part  of  their 
time  and  attention  to  details  rather  than  to  these  more 
general  distinctions. 

The  four  fundamental  forms  of  discourse  may  be  treated 
as  representing  four  different  mental  attitudes.  They  can 
also  be  discussed  from  the  side  of  content  when  the  empha- 
sis is  laid  on  the  fact  that  they  differ  in  the  type  of  subject 
matter  which  they  present.  Let  us  select  a  number  of  state- 
ments illustrating  the  fact  that  the  classification  of  forms 
of  discourse  describes  mental  attitudes.  Thus  in  discussing 
narration  one  author  states: 

The  mind  does  not  think  in  single  words,  complete  enough 
so  that  they  represent  a  single  idea.  .  .  .  Such  a  group  of  words 
is  like  a  picture  thrown  upon  a  screen.  .  .  .  And  just  as  a  series 
of  single  pictures  tells  a  story  at  the  moving  picture  show,  so  a 
series  of  groups  of  words  tells  a  story  in  man's  everyday  life.1 

1  W.  F.  Webster,  English  for  Secondary  Schools,  p.  63. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COURSES     179 

Later  he  defines  description  in  these  terms : 

In  the  preceding  chapter  it  has  been  pointed  out  that  the 
sequence  of  language  is  well  adapted  to  detail  the  sequence  of 
action  in  a  narrative.  For  the  purpose  of  presenting  a  picture, 
language  has  serious  drawbacks ;  the  picture  has  to  be  shown 
in  pieces.  .  .  .  Each  [phrase]  introduces  a  new  element  into 
the  picture ;  and  then,  from  these  phrases  the  reader  must  con- 
struct the  real  picture  (p.  105).  Exposition  treats  of  abstract 
ideas,  either  general  terms  like  horse,  man,  tree;  or  propo- 
sitions (p.  202). 

On  the  other  hand,  the  attempt  is  often  made  to  define 
each  of  the  forms  of  discourse  from  the  point  of  view  of 
content.  "All  composition  may  be  arranged  in  two  great 
groups.  The  first  group  includes  composition  that  deals 
with  real  things  and  incidents;  the  second  group  includes 
compositions  that  deal  with  thoughts  and  ideas  "  (p.  55). 

The  quotations  which  have  been  given  show  how  easy  it 
is  to  take  first  the  psychological  attitude  and  then  to  turn 
directly  to  the  objective  attitude.  That  students  are  con- 
fused by  these  different  points  of  view  is  hardly  to  be 
wondered  at  when  their  immaturity  and  lack  of  training  in 
introspective  analysis  is  kept  in  mind.  Rhetoric  of  the  psy- 
chological type  is  very  abstract  and  vague  to  the  ordinary 
student.  Rhetoric  based  on  the  effort  to  classify  subject 
matter  is  likely  to  get  the  student  into  difficulty,  because 
subject  matter  refuses  to  follow  the  lines  laid  down  in  the 
classification.  The  classification  is  essentially  logical  and 
psychological. 

Enough  has  been  said  in  the  foregoing  analysis  of  text- 
books to  bring  out  clearly  three  general  facts.  First,  the  older 
textbooks  dealt  frankly  with  the  forms  of  experience  and 
expression ;  the  later  books  attempt  to  make  rhetoric  con- 
crete and  thus  often  confuse  with  considerations  about 
subject  matter  a  study  which  is  essentially  a  formal  sub- 
ject. Second,  the  study  of  formal  aspects  of  expression  is 


180    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

an  abstract  study,  and  high-school  students  can  only  with 
difficulty  neglect  that  in  which  they  are  most  interested, 
namely,  subject  matter,  to  concentrate  attention  011  form. 
Finally,  present-day  rhetoric  is  not  complete  or  successful 
even  on  its  own  chosen  grounds.  It  does  not  deal  adequately 
with  subject-matter  problems  because  it  is  divorced  in  its 
organization  from  subject-matter  courses. 

ORAL  COMPOSITION 

In  the  general  books  on  teaching  English  in  high  schools 
a  problem  is  discussed  which  is  omitted  from  most  texts ; 
namely,  the  problem  of  oral  composition.  When  one  goes  to 
the  classes  in  English  as  actually  conducted,  one  finds  very 
little  oral  composition.  This  is,  perhaps,  one  of  the  greatest 
weaknesses  of  American  schools.  The  student  in  an  Amer- 
ican class  seldom  says  more  than  three  sentences,  and  often 
he  says  only  a  word  or  two.  Teachers  do  not  seem  to 
realize  the  value  of  continuous  discourse,  and  the  rhetoric 
books,  while  they  talk  about  argument,  very  seldom  give 
any  serious  attention  to  oral  argumentation.  Oral  expression 
is,  in  its  psychological  elements  and  organization,  very  dif- 
ferent from  written  composition.  Oral  composition  must 
be  rapid.  Writing  may  be  very  deliberate.  Oral  composi- 
tion is  less  likely  to  be  influenced  by  the  models  which  the 
student  has  read.  When  one  is  writing,  the  length  of  the 
sentence,  the  character  of  the  words  used,  and  other  details 
of  expression,  such  as  the  rhythm  of  phrases,  will  all  be  de- 
termined by  the  qualities  of  writing  activities  as  much  as 
by  anything  relating  to  the  vocal  activities.  It  is  a  mistake 
to  assume  that  oral  and  written  composition  are  the  same. 
The  lack  of  regard  for  oral  expression  has  been  commented 
on  before  as  an  evidence  that  the  English  teacher  does  not 
view  his  task  broadly  enough. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COUESES     181 

VERSE  USED  IN  COMPOSITION 

A  word  may  be  added  with  regard  to  verse  as  a  form  of 
composition.  Objection  to  the  use  of  verse  often  arises  from 
the  fact  that  the  mind  of  the  student  is  likely  to  associate 
verse  with  sentiment,  and  the  temptation  to  indulge  in 
trivial  sentimentality  is  overpowering  when  composition  is 
undertaken  in  this  form.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no 
type  of  composition  which  so  definitely  checks  and  controls 
the  form  of  the  student's  work  as  versification.  If  some  of 
the  narrative  poems  are  adopted  as  models  so  as  to  over- 
come the  objection  of  sentimentality,  it  is  possible  to  use 
verse-making  as  a  very  compelling  type  of  formal  train- 
ing. Any  work  which  checks  itself  is  excellent  material 
to  use  in  training  an  immature  student,  because  the  rules 
are  automatically  kept  before  the  student's  mind  by  the 
product  itself. 

One  cannot  leave  the  topic  of  rhetoric  and  the  forms  of 
expression  without  commenting  once  more  on  the  dangers 
of  formal  work  in  the  English  class.  Formal  training  is  not 
damaging  to  the  student  if  it  is  a  part  of  a  more  general 
system  of  education  in  which  form  is  ultimately  filled  with 
productive  content.  Training  in  form  can  always  justify 
itself  as  a  necessary  part  of  the  total  equipment  of  the 
student.  The  danger  arises  when  form  replaces  complete 
training.  When  form  becomes  an  end,  then  the  system  of 
education  has  abandoned  its  legitimate  function,  which  is  to 
develop  the  individual's  experience.  Form  which  is  magni- 
fied above  content  is  empty  and  a  burden.  Many  a  rhetoric 
class  exhibits  the  sad  spectacle  of  a  teacher  absorbed  in 
form  and  quite  unconscious  of  his  weakness.  The  students 
in  such  a  class  do  not  know  what  the  difficulty  is,  but  they 
realize  that  the  subject  is  utterly  lacking  in  inspiration  and 
they  are  the  more  confused  because  they  do  not  see  what 
is  the  purpose  of  the  work. 


182    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

PSYCHOLOGICAL  OBSERVATIONS  IN  A  RHETORIC  CLASS 

Observations  made  in  a  rhetoric  class  add  three  general 
statements  to  those  which  have  been  derived  from  a  study 
of  the  texts.  In  the  first  place,  the  questions  asked  are 
usually  of  such  a  character  that  any  one  of  several  differ- 
ent answers  will  satisfy  the  demand.  What  criticism  is  to 
be  offered  of  the  paragraph  is  a  typical  question.  The  stu- 
dents now  begin  to  cast  about  for  the  teacher's  probable 
idea  in  asking  the  question.  Very  often  it  is  a  lottery,  and 
the  student  knows  it  and  is  prepared  to  take  two  or  three 
trials  if  the  teacher's  patience  holds  out. 

In  the  second  place,  the  number  of  different  kinds  of 
judgment  which  a  student  is  called  upon  to  pass  is  much 
greater  than  in  most  subjects.  In  mathematics  the  judg- 
ments and  comparisons  are  fairly  uniform  in  type  and  the 
different  varieties  are  limited  in  number.  Not  so  in  Eng- 
lish. The  following  types  were  enumerated  in  one  period. 
Whether  the  author  was  recording  a  fact  or  a  fictitious  idea 
was  investigated,  and  the  students  passed  judgments  on  the 
evidences  submitted.  Again,  the  relative  importance  of  the 
fact  stated  was  discussed.  This  led  to  the  general  discussion 
of  the  importance  of  the  fact  for  the  narrative  and  the  im- 
portance of  the  fact  for  the  real  outcome.  The  students 
were  asked  to  judge  of  the  appropriateness  of  the  narrative 
with  a  view  to  arousing  the  desired  ideas  in  the  audience. 
This  called  for  a  discussion  of  the  mental  processes  of  the 
audience.  What  kind  of  emotions  do  people  have  in  such 
cases  ?  Is  the  narrative  detailed  enough  ?  Is  the  order  of 
events  such  as  to  produce  the  most  vivid  effect?  In  this 
connection  a  little  attention  was  given  to  the  individual 
words  employed,  and  very  shortly  the  discussion  drifted  off 
into  a  study  of  the  history  and  form  of  words.  The  stu- 
dents were  then  brought  back  to  a  discussion  of  the  way  in 
which  the  passages  illustrated  rhetorical  principles  studied 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COURSES     183 

earlier  in  the  course.  This  led  to  a  review  and  application 
of  general  principles  regarding  form.  Finally,  the  students 
were  asked  to  compare  this  passage  with  others  with  refer- 
ence to  the  form  and  with  reference  to  the  content. 

Such  an  array  of  judgments  makes  it  perfectly  clear  that 
rhetoric  is  a  general  subject.  The  reason  why  it  is  so  hard 
to  define  courses  in  English  and  to  secure  uniformity  in 
these  courses  is  to  be  found  in  the  infinite  variety  of 
ends  which  may  be  sought  with  identically  the  same  text 
hi  rhetoric  and  identically  the  same  illustrative  material. 
Teachers  of  rhetoric  recognize  this  fact  when  they  say  that 
the  English  teacher's  personality  is  a  very  large  factor  — 
more  of  a  factor  than  the  personality  of  the  teacher  of  math- 
ematics. In  the  observations  recounted  above,  it  was  fortu- 
nately unnecessary  to  include  the  petty  insistence  which 
some  instructors  feel  obliged  to  exhibit  about  the  absolutely 
formal  matters  of  margin,  spelling,  punctuation,  etc. 

In  the  third  place,  one  notes  a  strong  tendency  on  the 
part  of  both  teacher  and  students  to  seek  some  solid,  uni- 
form content  for  thought  by  reducing  the  whole  exercise 
to  a  repetition  of  a  few  stereotyped  phrases.  The  rhetoric 
class  becomes  a  kind  of  memory  exercise.  Students  try 
to  answer  every  question  in  some  formula  from  the  book. 
One  student  evidently  bereft  of  all  ideas  answers  blandly, 
"  The  passage  lacks  unity."  When  the  matter  is  pursued 
further,  it  does  not  appear  that  he  understood  either  unity 
or  the  passage.  This  frantic  devotion  to  the  text  is  clear 
evidence  of  the  desire  of  the  student  to  get  something 
tangible  in  the  midst  of  the  whirl  of  things.  When  one  sees 
the  corrected  compositions  of  a  class,  he  realizes  why  the 
manifold  judgments  which  are  possible  and  even  attempted 
gradually  get  reduced  to  a  few  simple,  formal  matters. 
These  formal  matters  can  be  noted  with  red  ink  with  a 
definiteness  that  is  quite  impossible  when  one  tries  to  deal 
with  the  other,  larger  matters  that  are  suggested. 


184    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

A  visit  to  a  rhetoric  class  leaves  one  with  the  impression 
that  too  much  has  been  undertaken  and  too  little  carried 
through.  The  difficulty  of  organizing  work  in  English  is 
evidently  great.  The  layman  is  led  to  believe  that  the 
subject  should  be  subdivided  and  the  parts  attacked  in 
succession. 

PROBLEMS  OF  LITERATURE 

From  the  discussion  of  modes  of  expression  we  turn  to 
a  discussion  of  that  phase  of  English  which  is  designated 
as  literature.  The  business  of  class  exercises  and  study  in 
literature  is  to  cultivate  appreciation.  There  is  a  certain 
mysticism  in  the  minds  of  many  teachers  about  appreciation. 
Taste  is  proverbially  a  purely  personal  and  quite  inexpli- 
cable trait.  The  power  of  appreciation  is  accordingly  said  to 
rest  on  subconscious  judgments  which  are  very  vivid  but 
quite  incapable  of  communication.  Such  statements  regard- 
ing the  nature  of  the  process  of  appreciation  are,  of  course, 
a  challenge  to  the  psychologist.  Appreciation  is  a  mental 
process  and  is  capable  of  training  under  direct  guidance, 
while  to  some  extent  it  seems  to  mature  without  direct 
guidance.  Our  problem  is  to  discover  what  is  the  mental 
and  physiological  mechanism  involved  in  appreciation,  and 
thus  to  throw  light  on  the  methods  of  its  training.  In  other 
words,  it  is  here,  as  always,  the  business  of  psychology  to 
refuse  to  be  satisfied  with  mysticism.  Appreciation  must 
be  analyzed  and  explained. 

RHYTHM  AS  A  FUNDAMENTAL  IN  LITERARY  FORM 

For  the  purposes  of  our  study  we  shall  begin  with  a  very 
simple  form  of  appreciation.  Professor  Sievers 1  has  pointed 
out  the  fact  that  every  writer  and  speaker  has  certain. 

1G.  E.  Sievers,  Grundziige  der  Phonetik,  especially  Cap.  XXXI- 
XXXVI.  Breitkopf  und  Hartel,  1893. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COURSES     185 

typical  rhythms  of  speech  and  phraseology.  In  his  lectures 
he  goes  so  far  as  to  assert  that  it  is  possible  to  determine 
the  authorship  of  a  manuscript  by  finding  out  the  rhythm 
in  which  the  successive  phrases  fall.  Furthermore,  he  calls 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  rhythms  which  express  differ- 
ent types  of  emotional  reaction  differ  from  each  other.  Thus 
the  writer  or  speaker  who  is  excited  by  some  intense  emotion 
will  write  in  short  and  rapid  rhythm  and  will  speak  in  the 
same  fashion,  whereas  the  long  deliberate  periods  of  un- 
emotional discourse  indicate  an  entirely  different  attitude 
of  mind  and  body.  These  rhythms  attaching  to  different 
emotional  situations  are  recognized,  though  not  always 
explicitly  distinguished,  from  the  total  expression  by  the 
reader  and  by  the  author.  If  there  is  a  fitness  in  the  partic- 
ular rhythm,  so  that  the  content  of  the  sentence  and  its 
rhythm  are  felt  to  be  appropriate,  we  speak  of  the  style  as 
satisfactory.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  any  incongruity 
which  gives  us  a  content  of  one  type  and  a  rhythm  of  a 
wholly  different  type,  we  speak  of  the  style  as  inappro- 
priate. Undoubtedly  most  people  are  more  sensitive  to  the 
rhythms  in  oral  speech  than  in  written  speech.  When, 
therefore,  one  wishes  to  bring  out  the  full  significance  of  a 
paragraph  which  expresses  strong  emotion  he  can  do  it  best 
by  reading  it  aloud.  This  does  not  mean  that  he  should 
give  to  each  word  any  peculiar  intonation ;  indeed,  the 
emotion  is  expressed  not  by  single  words  and  their  emphasis, 
but  rather  by  the  general  rhythm  of  the  whole  paragraph. 
Some  teachers  of  reading  make  much  of  the  principle  that 
the  voice  must  be  raised  and  lowered  so  as  to  express  the 
emotions  which  are  carried  by  certain  words.  It  is  often 
not  the  change  in  pitch  which  is  significant  in  an  emotional 
passage.  The  rate  at  which  words  flow  is  the  more  signifi- 
cant fact. 

As  stated  above,  the  ordinary  individual  frequently  does 
not  analyze  the  situation  far  enough  to  pick  Out  the  rhythm 


186     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

as  a  separate  part  of  the  total  situation.  The  passage  seems 
to  him  to  have  a  certain  emotional  coloring,  and  he  associates 
this  emotional  coloring  with  the  words  and  with  the  ideas 
as  they  flow  through  his  mind.  He  does  not  realize  that 
the  source  of  the  emotional  experience  is  the  rhythm  of  the 
words  rather  than  their  content.  The  meaning  of  this 
statement  can  perhaps  be  best  illustrated  by  referring  to 
the  fact  that  the  little  child  who  is  first  learning  to  read 
does  not  read  sentences,  but  reads  single  words  or  short 
phrases.  For  him  the  sentence  and  the  thought  are  broken 
up  so  much  that  he  gains  the  meaning  very  laboriously. 
As  soon  as  he  masters  the  sentence  so  that  he  can  read 
it  with  a  single  rising  or  falling  inflection  embracing  the 
whole  series  of  words,  he  will  be  expressing  a  degree  of 
maturity  hi  the  reading  process  which  is  instantly  recognized 
by  the  teacher.  So  significant  is  this  grouping  together, 
of  all  the  words  of  a  sentence  that  one  can  test  by  the 
child's  intonation  his  ability  to  master  the  whole  of  an  idea 
as  distinguished  from  its  separate  elements.  There  is  no 
more  significant  development  in  the  child's  ability  to  read 
poetry  than  his  ability  to  keep  the  voice  from  dropping  at 
the  end  of  a  line  which  does  not  finish  a  given  idea.  To 
get  beyond  the  single  verse  and  modulate  the  voice  so  as 
to  include  the  next  verse  in  a  single  expression  shows  that 
the  whole  idea  and  the  emotional  experience  which  properly 
attaches  to  it  have  come  to  be  more  significant  for  the  child 
than  the  single  word  or  the  mechanical  processes  involved 
in  reading.  To  be  governed  by  the  ends  of  the  lines  of 
poetry  is  a  relatively  primitive  stage  of  development;  to 
get  beyond  this  early  stage  of  development  and  have  the 
true  appreciation  of  the  whole  idea  involves  a  rhythm  of 
speech  and  reading  which  is  superior  to  the  rhythm  of  the 
individual  lines. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COURSES     187 

APPRECIATION  AN  ACTIVE  PROCESS 

This  discussion  of  rhythm  makes  it  obvious  that  appre- 
ciation of  a  full  sentence  or  passage  is  by  no  means  a 
purely  passive  affair.  Intelligent  apprehension  of  meaning 
depends  upon  a  general  response  to  a  total  situation,  and 
this  response  is  an  active  process.  The  rhythm  here  un- 
der discussion  cannot  be  described  as  a  purely  ideational 
matter.  Rhythm  is  a  matter  of  nervous  activity  and  is  un- 
doubtedly related  to  the  fact  that  all  language  involves 
certain  direct  muscular  responses.  The  rhythms  of  an 
author  or  reader  must  not  be  too  long  or  they  will  be 
impossible  of  fluent  utterance.  Fluent  utterance  is  a 
matter  of  respiration  and  reaction  of  the  muscles  of  the 
vocal  cords  and  mouth.  The  laws  of  articulation  thus 
govern  our  appreciation  of  passages.  Even  when  the  artic- 
ulation is  not  actually  carried,  out  in  full,  we  are  con- 
trolled in  our  enjoyment  of  passages  by  the  articulations 
which  they  suggest. 

Rhythm  is  one  of  the  instruments  employed  in  arousing 
others.  Not  only  does  each  writer  have  his  own  rhythm, 
but  he  is  effective  just  in  the  degree  in  which  he  transmits 
to  his  readers  his  own  reaction.  Thus,  when  one  becomes  a 
reader  his  appreciation  is  not  limited  to  forms  of  reaction 
which  he  originates.  If  one  reads  the  long  sonorous  lines 
of  Milton's  "  Paradise  Lost,"  he  gets  an  elevated  emotion 
which  originated  with  Milton  and  is  transmitted  to  the 
appreciating  individual  through  the  reactions  which  are  in- 
duced in  him  by.  his  reading.  One  could  get  from  "  Par- 
adise Lost "  the  lofty  emotions  conveyed  by  the  poem  even 
if  he  were  quite  unable  to  originate  anything  of  the  same 
sort  himself.  All  that  is  necessary  is  that  he  should  be  able 
sufficiently  to  follow  the  words  and  sentence  structures 
to  reproduce  in  himself  the  reactions  which  the  author 


188     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

desired.  Well-arranged  words  thus  induce  rhythmical  re- 
actions, at  the  same  time  that  they  carry  a  freightage  of 
other  meanings  through  their  appeal  to  other  active  func- 
tions of  the  individual. 


REACTIONS  BELATED  TO  GRAMMATICAL  STRUCTURES 

.  Up  to  this  point  we  have  dealt  primarily  with  the  rhythm 
of  sentences  and  its  connection  with  emotional  life.  There 
are,  however,  a  great  variety  of  other  forms  of  reaction 
which  are  established  during  the  cultivation  of  language 
and  during  the  development  of  the  ability  to  read.  Thus, 
one  acquires,  as  pointed  out  in  the  last  chapter,  definite 
modes  of  reaction  for  the  different  parts  of  speech.  If  one 
uses  a  preposition,  there  is  in  his  experience  a  definite  de- 
mand for  an  object  to  follow  this  preposition.  This  demand 
is  no  shadowy  mental  desire  ;  it  is  a  real  physical  need.  It 
is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  in  expressions  preposi- 
tions have  always  been  followed  by  objects.  We  have 
learned  prepositions  and  objects  as  a  single  verbal  reaction. 
We  learn  to  move  our  vocal  cords  in  certain  series  of  ex- 
pressions and  our  whole  motor  organization  is  such  that 
we  feel  the  need  of  complete  expressions. 

Grammatical  habits  are  real  motor  habits.  Just  as  the 
left  hand  tends  to  follow  the  right  in  its  upward  and  down- 
ward movements,  so  our  phrases  are  expressions  of  our  sys- 
tems of  speech.  Our  language  habits  are  as  fixed  as  our 
habits  of  facial  expression.  Let  one  note  his  experience 
when  the  object  of  a  preposition  is  omitted.  Read  the 
partial  sentence,  "  This  book  lies  on  .  .  ."  The  impulse  to 
go  on  beyond  the  preposition  is  as  strong  as  the  impulse  to 
look  around  when  one  hears  a  sound.  Again,  anyone  who 
has  experienced  the  shock  of  hearing  a  person  say  "  With 
you  and  I "  will  realize  how  pungent  is  the  bodily  feeling 
which  is  produced  by  the  preposition  "  with  "  followed  by 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COUBSES     189 

the  pronoun  "  I."  One  has  the  same  kind  of  experience  in 
this  case  as  that  which  shocks  him  when  he  makes  a  false 
step  at  the  top  of  the  stairs.  There  is  a  physical  jolt  which 
is  altogether  out  of  proportion  to  any  actual  sensory  expe- 
rience which  he  encounters.  The  preparation  and  the  ten- 
sion of  all  of  his  muscles  is  in  conflict  with  the  expression 
which  is  executed  contrary  to  his  expectations. 

There  are  other  grammatical  adjustments,  as  when  one 
uses  the  subject  of  a  sentence  and  starts  to  satisfy  his  feel- 
ing of  the  necessity  for  a  verb.  Not  only  is  this  connection 
between  subject  and  predicate  a  definite  one  in  the  sense 
that  the  verb  must  follow,  but  the  verb  must  be  of  a  par- 
ticular form.  Anyone  who  has  used  a  plural  noun  begins 
to  feel  the  necessity  of  a  plural  verb.  If  the  sentence  be- 
comes long  and  involved  he  may  be  satisfied  with  a  verb 
of  the  wrong  number.  This  is  particularly  true  when  qual- 
ifying words  which  have  a  number  different  from  that  of 
the  subject  are  interposed  between  the  subject  and  the  verb 
itself.  In  all  these  cases,  however,  we  have  examples  of 
definite  active  adjustments  on  the  part  of  the  speaker, 
which  adjustments  have  come  to  be  so  fixed  in  form  that  if 
one  is  speaking  or  reading  he  demands  the  proper  consum- 
mation of  the  expression  in  conformity  to  his  habit.  One 
will  never  be  satisfied  to  have  an  author  break  through  the 
habits  of  his  own  speech  to  the  extent  of  using  a  singular 
verb  with  a  plural  subject  or  to  the  extent  of  using  a  prep- 
osition without  an  object.  On  the  other  hand,  one  is 
quite  willing  to  follow  an  author  beyond  his  own  personal 
ability  to  develop  sentence  structure.  There  is  nothing 
more  interesting  than  to  read  a  sentence  which  is  long  and 
involved,  but  which  works  out  with  perfect  precision.  One 
reads  such  a  sentence  as"  this,  which  is  longer  than  any  that 
he  would  himself  construct,  with  a  feeling  of  a  good  deal  of 
satisfaction  that  the  author  of  the  sentence  has  been  able  to 
extricate  everyone  concerned  from  the  intellectual  maze. 


190     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

Anyone  who  has  struggled  with  the  German  language 
has  an  appreciation  of  the  satisfaction  which  the  novice  feels 
in  watching  the  way  in  which  an  expert  in  this  language 
manages  a  separable  verb.  The  moment  the  verb  is  used 
in  a  sentence,  there  arises  a  feeling  of  craving  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  verb.  The  skillful  German  places  between 
the  verb  and  the  prefix  a  long  series  of  phrases  and  words, 
but  ultimately  arrives  with  perfect  precision  at  the  end  of 
the  sentence,  and  gives  the  satisfaction  which  comes  from  a 
proper  closing  of  the  feeling  which  was  started  when  the 
verb  was  first  introduced.  The  learner  is  fully  aware  that 
he  could  not  have  carried  the  grammatical  suspense  forward 
as  has  the  German  expert,  and  the  satisfaction  at  the  final 
conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  the  greater  because  he 
realizes  how  much  the  achievement  surpasses  any  German 
of  which  he  is  himself  capable. 


In  the  same  way  one  follows  a  public  speaker,  when  a 
climax  is  gradually  being  developed,  with  a  kind  of  breath- 
less anxiety  lest  the  climax  should  break  down.  If  the 
climax  is  properly  reached,  there  is  a  satisfaction  which  is 
very  much  greater  than  that  which  would  be  derived  from 
hearing  a  rhetorical  period  which  one  is  himself  able  to  con- 
struct. The  audience  becomes  more  and  more  tense  as  the 
speaker  moves  to  his  conclusion  ;  and  the  satisfaction  of  this 
tense  strain,  if  it  is  properly  managed  and  properly  brought 
to  its  consummation,  may  be  of  the  highest  type. 

In  the  case  of  a  climax  or  of  an  elaborate  paragraph  the 
reaction  and  the  experience  are  induced ;  that  is,  they  did 
not  originate  with  the  auditor,  but  rather  were  taken  on  by 
him  through  a  kind  of  imitation.  Appreciation  may  thus 
be  described  as  the  ability  to  follow  a  series  of  adjust- 
ments. Appreciation  does  not  depend  upon  one's  ability 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COURSES     191 

as  a  performer,  but  rather  upon  one's  ability  as  an  auditor. 
Illustrations  of  this  ability  to  appreciate  another's  perform- 
ance, even  where  one  is  himself  not  expert,  can  be  seen  in 
the  way  in  which  an  audience  will  follow  an  expert  singer. 
Anyone  who  has  heard  a  high  soprano  note  will  understand 
what  is  meant  by  the  statement  that  the  audience  appre- 
ciates performances  which  are  far  beyond  any  listener's  in- 
dividual possibilities.  As  the  singer  takes  the  high  pitch 
which  no  member  of  the  audience  could  imitate,  there  is  an 
incipient  tendency  to  draw  one's  self  together  in  a  supreme 
effort  to  follow  the  note  which  is  being  produced.  If,  for 
any  reason,  the  sound  is  not  accurately  produced,  there  is 
a  violent  reaction  of  disappointment,  which  is  so  obviously 
a  physical  reaction  that  one  who  has  experienced  it  needs 
no  argument  to  persuade  him  that  appreciation  in  this  case 
is  a  genuine  physical  matter.  We  have  the  same  sort  of 
sympathy  with  a  person  who  is  using  the  muscles  of  his 
arms  and  back  in  trying  to  lift  a  great  weight.  It  is  not 
necessary  that  we  should  lift  the  weight  with  him  in  order 
to  have  sympathy  with  what  he  is  doing ;  it  is  enough  that 
our  eyes  see  him  and  our  muscles  grow  tense  in  watching 
his  efforts  to  lift  the  weight. 

RELATIONS  OF  ALL  EMOTIONS  TO  REACTIONS 

The  reader  who  has  never  realized  the  importance  of 
behavior  in  determining  the  character  of  individual  con- 
sciousness has  undoubtedly  been  growing  more  and  more 
restless  as  the  foregoing  pages  have  omitted  all  mention  of 
images  and  ideas  and  have  set  forth  the  relation  of  reac- 
tions to  appreciation.  This  emphasis  on  reactions  came 
into  psychology  with  the  James-Lange  doctrine  of  the  emo- 
tions. Before  James  wrote  his  great  work  1  the  psychologies 

1  Principles  of  Psychology,  chaps,  iv,  xxiv,  and  xxv  (Henry  Holt 
and  Company,  1890);  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychology  (Henry  Holt 
and  Company,  1902). 


192     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

were  utterly  deficient  in  their  treatment  of  emotions.  There 
was  a  descriptive  classification  of  emotions  but  no  explana- 
tion of  their  character  and  conditions.  James  went  further 
than  any  writers  before  him,  and  pointed  out  that  it  is  evi- 
dent that  emotions  cannot  be  explained  by  the  facts  of 
sensation.  When  one  enjoys  looking  at  a  certain  shade  of 
blue  and  is  displeased  with  a  certain  shade  of  yellow,  the 
pleasure  and  displeasure  attaching  to  these  colors  cannot 
be  explained  by  referring  to  the  retinal  processes  involved. 
The  sensations  have  quality  and  intensity,  but  the  feeling 
tone  is  due  to  the  reactions  which  they  arouse.  The  blue 
color  makes  the  circulatory  and  respiratory  organs  act  in  a 
way  wholly  different  from  that  in  which  they  act  during 
the  observation  of  yellow.  This  doctrine  worked  out  by 
James  and  Lange  is  an  explanation  of  one  group  of  mental 
processes  which  the  sensory  psychology  could  not  deal  with 
except  in  the  most  general  descriptive  terms. 

The  theory  of  the  emotions  sketched  above  has  influ- 
enced psychological  thought  in  all  directions.  To-day  we 
recognize  that  there  are  many  aspects  of  experience  other 
than  emotions  which  can  be  understood  only  by  the  study 
of  reactions.  Space  as  an  arrangement  of  sensations  is  the 
product  of  our  efforts  to  organize  our  responses  to  sensa- 
tions. This  was  discussed  in  an  earlier  chapter.  The  facts 
of  attention  can  be  best  understood  when  we  refer  to  activ- 
ity. The  individual  who  is  concentrating  on  an  object  is 
turning  all  his  motor  processes  in  the  direction  of  that 
object.  The  processes  of  discrimination  are  processes  of 
varied  response.  In  short,  wherever  sensations  are  organ- 
ized or  arranged  we  are  dealing  with  processes  of  behavior. 
The  term  "  behavior "  is  not  used  in  any  large  and  loose 
sense.  Behavior  means  bodily  reaction  and  the  nervous 
organization  on  which  bodily  reaction  depends.  The  reason 
why  right  and  left  are  so  clearly  distinguished  is  that  these 
are  sharply  contrasted  directions  in  which  action  may  be 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COUESES     193 

turned.  The  reason  why  up  and  down  are  recognized  as 
different  is  the  same.  The  reason  why  we  classify  altruis- 
tic outgoing  effort  as  opposed  to  narrow  selfishness  is  to 
be  explained  by  the  motor  attitudes  which  are  attached  to 
these  contrasted  words  and  ideas. 


REACTION  AND  INDIVIDUAL  INTERPRETATIONS 
OF  WORDS 

Another  general  topic  which  the  psychology  of  behavior 
finds  it  very  profitable  to  discuss  is  the  problem  of  individ- 
ual differences.  The  same  sound  goes  in  at  the  ears  of  two 
different  individuals.  We  have  every  reason  to  assume  that 
each  individual  experiences  a  sensation  essentially  like  that 
of  all  other  human  beings  stimulated  by  the  same  sound, 
but  how  vastly  different  are  the  results  of  the  two  stim- 
ulations !  The  one  individual  hearing  the  sound  remains 
unmoved  and  inactive ;  the  other  is  aroused  to  the  most 
strenuous  endeavor.  The  one  has  no  organized  tendencies 
to  react  to  the  sound ;  the  other  has.  The  experiences  which 
arise  in  the  two  minds  will  reflect  very  little  of  the  common 
sensation  element  present  in  both  cases.  No  one  would 
think  of  treating  the  two  mental  experiences  as  alike  be- 
cause of  the  like  sensory  factors.  The  real  character  of 
each  mental  process  depends  on  the  mode  of  response  of 
which  the  individual  is  capable.  It  is  the  reaction  side 
of  human  nature  which  is  significant. 

The  same  conclusion  appears  when  one  studies  the  de- 
velopment of  an  individual.  The  child  and  the  man  both 
see  the  same  object,  but  the  man  knows  what  to  do  in  the 
presence  of  the  object  and  the  child  does  not.  Psychology 
and  teaching  are  concerned  with  reactions ;  sensations  are 
important  only  in  so  far  as  they  arouse  reactions. 

This  long  digression  from  our  study  of  appreciation  has 
•perhaps  served  to  persuade  the  reader  to  assume  toward 


194    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

language  and  language  teaching  an  attitude  different  from 
that  assumed  in  the  conventional  explanation  of  words 
as  merely  clues  to  mental  pictures.  Words  are  vital,  sig- 
nificant facts  in  the  mental  world.  We  have  word  habits. 
We  have  modes  of  expression.  We  demand  in  all  our  con- 
tact with  others  that  our  habits  of  verbal  reaction  shall  be 
conciliated. 

PSYCHOLOGY  OF  STYLE 

Such  general  statements  can  be  supplemented  by  further 
details.  In  colloquial  speech  with  one's  familiar  friends, 
one  has  a  certain  type  of  articulation  and  a  certain  set  of 
familiar  phrases.  The  moment  one  gets  out  of  this  friendly 
environment  into  a  group  of  strangers  one  finds  that  his 
mode  of  articulation  and  his  phraseology  take  on  an  en- 
tirely different  character.  He  uses  more  dignified  words, 
and  he  drops  the  familiar  phrases  which  he  used  with  his 
friends.  One  has,  therefore,  a  style  of  familiar  speech  and 
a  style  of  public  address.  One  has  a  style  for  strangers 
and  a  style  for  friends.  These  are  modes  of  behavior. 

In  the  same  way  one  has  a  style  of  written  expression 
which  distinguishes  itself  sharply  from  his  style  of  oral 
expression.  In  his  autobiographical  notes  Herbert  Spen- 
cer calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  he  finds  his  practice 
of  dictation  Leads  to  a  diffuseness  and  looseness  of  style 
which  was  not  exhibited  in  his  earlier  work,  when  he 
wrote  his  books  with  his  own  hand.  This  looseness  of 
style  in  dictation  is  in  part  connected  with  the  fact  that 
one  does  not  see  the  pro'ducts  of  his  work  with  the  same 
degree  of  definiteness  as  when  he  is  writing,  but  there  is 
also  the  general  fact  that  the  words  which  issue  from  one's 
vocal  cords  are  different  in  character  and  in  their  con- 
nections from  the  words  which  one  writes  with  a  pencil  or 
pen.  The  habits  of  expression  in  the  two  spheres  of  action 
are  different. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COURSES     195 

Perhaps  this  difference  in  style  can  be  most  clearly  illus- 
trated by  the  confession  of  a  psychologist,  who  said  that  as 
a  boy  he  had  acquired  the  habit  of  profanity,  but  never 
made  the  mistake  of  using  any  of  his  profane  phrases  in 
his  conversation  at  home.  He  did  not  have  to  stop  and 
think  each  time  he  said  anything  at  home  that  he  must 
avoid  profanity.  He  simply  had  a  nonprofane  style  at 
home,  whereas  when  he  was  associating  with  his  compan- 
ions he  had  a  style  whi^h  included  a  free  use  of  profane 
words.  Later  in  life  he  resolved  to  give  up  the  use  of  pro- 
fanity altogether.  Then  he  found  that  his  profane  phrases 
crept  into  his  conversation  both  at  home  and  away  from 
home.  In  other  words,  the  profane  phrases  in  this  case 
crept  in  only  when  he  did  not  detect  them  and  eliminate 
them,  and  during  this  period  of  elimination  they  broke  up 
his  habits  of  expression  both  at  home  and  away  from  home. 

Such  examples  of  different  kinds  of  style  in  different 
situations  could  be  multiplied  indefinitely.  One  has  a 
serious  style  of  address  when  he  is  engaged  in  one  of  his 
profound  technical  discussions,  which  serious  style  of  ad- 
dress differs  altogether  from  the  style  of  address  which  he 
would  use  if  he  were  discussing  matters  of  business  or  pol- 
itics with  his  audience.  Many  an  academic  man  realizes 
that  he  can  lecture  very  much  better  than  he  can  write. 
His  lectures  are  clear  and  explicit  and  attractive  to  the 
students  whom  he  sees  before  him.  The  moment  he  loses 
the  stimulus  of  the  class  environment  and  sits  down  with 
pencil  and  paper  and  tries  to  write  out  his  ideas,  he  becomes 
heavy  and  unintelligible.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are 
many  people  who  would  be  utterly  at  a  loss  to  express 
themselves  in  oral  speech.  If  they  were  suddenly  placed 
before  an  audience  and  called  upon  to  express  ideas,  they 
would  find  the  whole  machinery  of  expression  blocked. 
The  only  hope  for  such  people  is' to  write  out  what  they 
have  to.  say  and  then  read  it.  Some  people  are  able,  when 


196     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

given  this  opportunity  of  writing  out  deliberately  what  they 
have  to  say,  to  prepare  a  fluent  and  coherent  statement  of 
the  situation.  They  have  a  habit  of  written  expression 
which  is  superior  to  their  style  of  oral  speech. 

CONTINUITY  OF  DISCOURSE  A  MARK  OF  MATURITY 

Finally,  one  further  illustration  may  be  offered  which 
distinguishes  the  trained  individual  from  the  untrained  in- 
dividual. The  trained  individual  feels  the  necessity  of  keep- 
ing up  the  continuity  of  thought  and  statement.  He  uses 
certain  connective  words  and  phrases  which  carry  him  over 
from  sentence  to  sentence  and  from  phrase  to  phrase.  He 
uses  at  the  beginning  of  a  paragraph  such  a  connective  word 
as  nevertheless  or  accordingly.  The  untrained  thinker,  on 
the  other  hand,  omits  most  of  these  connective  words.  His 
ideas  come  in  disconnected  units.  He  does  not  feel  the 
necessity  of  carrying  the  reader  or  his  own  discourse  forward 
from  phrase  to  phrase.  He  speaks  hi  short,  choppy  sentences, 
and  he  is  likely  to  use  the  wrong  connective  word  if  he  tries 
to  bridge  over  one  of  the  chasms  in  his  thought  and  expres- 
sion. Something  analogous  to  this  appears  in  the  mature 
writings  of  a  poet.  It  requires  a  high  degree  of  develop- 
ment of  the  poetical  art  to  bridge  over  the  formal  breaks 
in  versification ;  it  is  a  mark  of  complete  mastery  of  verse 
forms  to  adhere  to  the  laws  of  division  dictated  by  the 
meter  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  carry  forward  the  idea  when 
need  be  beyond  the  line  in  such  a  way  as  to  avoid  gross 
inversion  of  speech  and  sharp  breaks  in  sentences. 

SUMMARY  OF  REACTION  TO  FORM 

Enough  has  been  said  in  these  examples  to  make  it  cle,ar 
that  style  grows  through  the  accumulation  of  a  great  vari- 
ety of  habits  of  spfeech  and  expression  which  cannot  be 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COUESES     197 

connected  with  single  words,  but  which  control  the  forma- 
tion of  sentences  and  paragraphs.  Furthermore,  it  has  been 
made  clear  that  the  appreciation  of  these  sentences  and 
paragraph  structures  does  not  depend  upon  the  ability  of 
the  individual  himself  to  originate  the  forms  of  expression 
which  he  enjoys,  Finally,  attention  can  be  called  once 
more  to  the  fact  that  in  many  cases  the  learning  of  one 
of  these  forms  of  sentence  reaction  is  greatly  facilitated 
by  oral  reading  as  distinguished  from  silent  reading.  The 
habits  involved  in  appreciating  matter  which  has  only  been 
seen  are  undoubtedly  different  in  character  from  the  habits 
involved  in  appreciating  that  which  is  expressed  aloud. 

REACTIONS  TO  CONTENT 

Appreciation  of  rhythm,  of  structural  facts,  and  of  style 
constitute  what  we  may  call  the  pure  forms  of  rhetorical 
appreciation.  There  is  an  entirely  different  sphere  of 
appreciation.  A  literary  passage  is  appreciated  by  the 
trained  reader  for  its  content  as  well  as  for  its  form. 
Appreciation  of  content  is  in  essence  the  same  kind  of  a 
mental  process  as  the  appreciation  of  form.  Content  is  en- 
joyed just  in  the  degree  in  which  the  individual's  habits  of 
reaction  are  satisfied  by  the  impulses  aroused  by  what  he 
reads.  Or  to  put  the  matter  in  a  negative  example,  an  indi- 
vidual can  appreciate  fully  an  emotion  which  is  expressed 
in  a  poem  only  after  he  has  had  some  of  the  real  experi- 
ences capable  of  arousing  in  him  modes  of  response  appro- 
priate to  the  sentiment  expressed  in  the  poem.  Take,  for 
example,  such  a  poem  as  Whittier's  "Barefoot  Boy."  It  is 
sometimes  assumed  that  because  this  poem  is  about  a  boy  it 
ought  to  be  given  to  boys  to  read.  It  is  assumed  that  boys 
will  be  aroused  by  the  sentiment  which  the  author  experi- 
enced when  he  contrasted  the  boy  and  his  simple  surround- 
ings and  possessions  with  the  unhappy  man  of  wealth  who 


198     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

is  deprived  of  all  of  the  physical  enjoyments  which  the 
barefoot  boy  enjoys.  The  fact  is,  of  course,  that  an  ordinary 
boy  who  has  had  the  privilege  of  going  barefooted  has  prob- 
ably never  had  the  remotest  approach  to  that  emotional  re- 
coil against  luxury  experienced  by  the  man  of  wealth  who 
rides  by  in  his  carriage.  In  other  words,  the  barefoot  boy  can- 
not appreciate  the  discomforts  of  luxury  which  are  described 
to  him  because  the  description  arouses  in  him  no  response. 
In  order  to  have  the  contrast  which  is  in  the  poet's  mind,  he 
must  have  had  maturity  of  experience  and  the  recoil  of  dis- 
appointment. To  the  ordinary  boy  no  such  contrast  in  expe- 
rience is  possible.  He  sees  the  matter  only  from  one  uniform 
level  of  meager  personal  experience,  and  this  leaves  him  with- 
out any  possible  appreciation  of  the  author's  point  of  view. 
What  has  been  said  in  connection  with  this  example  is 
frequently  stated  in  discussions  of  appreciation  when  it  is 
pointed  out  that  one  must  have  had  some  contact  with  life 
before  he  can  fully  comprehend  the  meaning  of  literature. 
Undoubtedly  one  must  have  cultivated  certain  forms  of 
emotional  reaction  and  certain  forms  of  interpreting  expe- 
riences before  he  can  know  what  ideas  mean.  It  is  not  that 
one  needs  merely  to  know  words,  one  must  know  how  to 
relate  words  to  the  larger  experiences  of  life.  Every  indi- 
vidual word  in  the  poem  may  be  known  to  the  barefoot 
boy.  Every  sentence  may  be  capable  of  perfectly  definite 
explanation,  and  yet  one  may  have  no  appreciation  what- 
soever of  the  sentiments  which  the  phrases  ought  to  bring 
up.  The  total  situation  is  the  mature  product  of  many 
experiences.  It  is  not  even  a  matter  of  interpretation  of 
a  given  sentence.  There  is  undoubtedly  a  good  deal  of 
failure  in  the  schools  to  appreciate  this  fact.  We  give 
literature  to  high-school  students  without  any  proper  back- 
ing of  personal  experience  to  interpret  the  significance  of 
the  passage.  The  result  is  that  the  student's  mind  is  con- 
centrated upon  the  purely  formal  side  of  the  passage.  He 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COURSES     199 

is  absorbed  in  the  words  and  in  the  sentences  as  they 
are  presented  on  the  page,  and  he  fails  to  have  any  appre- 
ciation of  the  real  significance  of  the  passage  because 
appreciation  in  this  case  means  a  response  of  a  large  and 
mature  type.  It  would  be  very  much  better  in  such  cases 
to  find  passages  which  can  be  related  to  reactions  of  which 
the  learner  is  capable.  Not  that  the  passages  should  forever 
remain  below  the  level  of  present  experience,  merely  de- 
pending on  the  accumulations  of  the  past  to  interpret  what 
is  now  given ;  each  passage  read  should  refine  the  evalua- 
tions given  to  life's  contrasts ;  each  passage  should  bring 
out  some  new  analogy  and  some  worthy  difference.  But 
these  new  contributions  to  experience  must  be  close  enough 
to  that  which  the  individual  now  has,  so  that  a  real  relation 
may  be  established  in  the  learner's  mind.  Literary  content 
must  not  merely  be  given.  It  must  arouse  a  response.  The 
student  must  feel  the  contrast  or  the  agreement.  He  will 
thus  be  prepared  to  face  in  later  life  more  elaborate  com- 
parisons and  more  elaborate  interpretations.  He  cannot,  on 
the  other  hand,  be  prepared  for  the  later  appreciation  of 
literature  or  for  the  relating  of  life  and  literature  if  the 
habits  of  mind  which  are  cultivated  in  the  school  are  for- 
mal habits  of  attention  to  words  and  sentences.  A  strict 
attention  to  the  text  in  such  cases  as  this  is  likely  to  per- 
vert rather  than  to  aid  the  student's  literary  development. 
He  gets  a  bad  habit  of  thinking  of  poems  and  of  prose 
passages  as  things  in  themselves,  as  groups  of  words,  as  oc- 
casions for  barren  rhetorical,  grammatical,  or  analytical  drill. 

STUDIES  ABOUT  SELECTIONS  VERSUS  APPEECIATION 

There  is  another  perverted  form  of  instruction  which  is 
very  common  in  the  schools.  It  assumes  that  students  will 
get  some  notion  of  the  meaning  of  passages  by  hearing 
about  these  passages  and  about  their  authors.  There  is 


200     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

undoubtedly  some  value  in  the  information  which  is  given 
in  the  history  of  literature,  but  the  history  of  literature  as  a 
list  of  names  is  certainly  not  to  be  identified  with  training 
in  appreciation  of  literature.  To  learn  about  the  conditions 
under  which  a  poem  was  written  may  indeed  throw  some 
light  upon  the  significance  of  the  author's  mood  and  the 
meaning  of  the  passage,  but  too  frequently  a  statement 
about  the  conditions  under  which  the  poem  was  written 
becomes  itself  a  remote  and  distracting  subject  of  attention. 
The  student  is  distracted  from  the  poem  itself  to  think 
about  a  series  of  facts  or  statements  which  are  of  little  or 
no  value  in  promoting  his  interpretation  of  what  he  reads. 

DANGERS  OF  DISSECTION 

Formalism  very  frequently  appears  in  another  practice. 
The  literary  passage  is  dissected  in  such  a  way  that  each 
item  of  information  which  is  presented  is  scrutinized  and 
made  the  subject  of  long  comment.  Each  individual  para- 
graph is  studied  apart  from  its  place  in  the  total  composi- 
tion. All  of  the  allusions  must  be  looked  up,  and  the  student 
becomes  absorbed  in  the  history  of  classical  mythology 
rather  than  in  the  turn  which  is  given  to  the  passage  by 
the  reference  to  some  classical  story.  This  breaking  up  of 
a  passage  into  its  elements  is  very  dangerous,  because  at- 
tention is  in  this  case  frequently  drawn  away  from  the  real 
centers  of  emphasis.  An  allusion  is  frequently  a  remote 
suggestion  of  something  that  ought  to  be  included  in  the 
thought  rather  than  an  appropriate  subject  for  long  discus- 
sions and  attention. 

It  is  not  denied  that  explanations  and  intelligent  com- 
prehension of  an  allusion  may  be  necessary.  If  the  student 
does  not  know  who  Hercules  was,  it  is  sometimes  necessary 
to  study  the  whole  myth  in  connection  with  the  use  of  the 
single  adjective  "  Herculean"  ;  but  what  the  student  should 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COURSES     201 

carry  away  from  this  study  of  an  allusion  is  the  merest 
remnant  of  the  whole  story,  the  intellectual  deposit  of  the 
discussion,  rather  than  the  long-drawn-out  statement  of  the 
myth  itself.  Herculean  means  something  large  or  strong 
or  noble.  That  is  what  the  student  ought  to  be  required 
to  carry  away  from  his  study  of  classical  mythology  in  this 
particular  instance.  He  ought  not  to  have  to  break  up 
the  passage  the  next  time  he  reads  it  and  go  into  a  long 
discourse  on  all  of  the  feats  of  strength  which  the  hero 
accomplished,  otherwise  the  flavor  of  the  adjective  will 
be  lost  in  a  didactic  discussion  of  the  information  which 
came  out  of  the  classical  dictionary. 

How  English  teachers  expect  to  create  appreciation  of 
"  Ivanhoe"  or  "Miles  Standish"  by  drilling  into  the  student's 
mind  all  of  the  details  that  can  be  looked  up  in  commentaries 
and  books  of  information  is  indeed  difficult  for  an  outsider 
to  understand.  The  student  gets  the  impression  that  the 
reading  of  one  of  these  classics  involves  an  encyclopedic 
inquiry  into  history  and  art.  He  loses  the  story  itself  in 
the  multitude  of  explanatory  considerations  that  are  clus- 
tered about  it.  He  is  not  encouraged  to  boil  his  experiences 
down  to  the  point  where  they  shall  be  mere  interpretations 
of  words.  He  is  encouraged  all  the  time  to  elaborate  every 
word  into  a  long  and  dreary  series  of  explanatory  ideas. 

INSTRUCTION  IN  APPRECIATION 

Perhaps  the  best  antidote  for  formalism  of  the  type 
which  has  been  under  discussion  in  the  last  paragraphs  is 
to  point  out  the  fact  that  attention  to  form  of  expression  is 
often  the  best  possible  means  of  securing  appreciation  of  a 
passage.  The  writer  recalls  with  grateful  appreciation  the 
skill  with  which  his  college  teacher  of  English  literature 
gave  him  a  lesson  in  literary  interpretation  by  compelling 
him  to  contrast  two  lines  in  Hamlet  which  were  being  read 


202     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

orally  in  class.    In  the  fifth  scene  of  the  first  act  Hamlet, 
replying  to  the  Ghost's  injunction  "  Remember  me,"  says : 

Remember  thee ! 

Ay,  them  poor  ghost,  while  memory  holds  a  seat 
In  this  distracted  globe.    Remember  thee ! 
Yea,  from  the  table  of  my  memory 
I  '11  wipe  away  all  trivial  fond  records. 

The  recurring  exclamations  "  Remember  thee  !  "  had  been 
read  in  the  first  instance  with  the  same  intonation.  The  in- 
structor called  attention  to  the  desirability  of  distinguish- 
ing the  two  phrases  in  the  two  cases.  Finally,  the  learner 
saw  that  the  first  "  Remember  thee  "  emphasized  the  word 
"remember,"  the  second  the  word  "  thee."  From  that  moment 
on  the  effort  to  interpret  all  the  lines  in  the  drama  was  of  a 
wholly  different  type.  The  teacher  had  taught  discrimina- 
tion. This  discrimination  was  a  matter  of  form ;  but  it 
reacted  on  content,  and  content  became  significant  and  illu- 
minating from  the  moment  the  discrimination  was  clearly 
made.  The  study  of  what  may  be  called  internal  form  as 
distinguished  from  the  study  of  external  outstanding  facts  is 
shown  by  such  an  example  to  be  productive  in  a  high  degree. 
This  example  could  be  multiplied  by  many  another  which 
would  reenforce  the  general  position  defended  all  through 
this  chapter,  that  appreciation  is  a  matter  of  discriminat- 
ing reaction.  There  is  no  mystery  about  appreciation  in 
a  psychology  which  lays  as  much  emphasis  on  reaction  as 
it  'does  on  imagery. 


There  is  one  question  which  has  undoubtedly  suggested 
itself  to  the  mind  of  the  reader  who  is  not  in  sympathy  with 
this  type  of  psychology.  Such  a  reader  has  doubtless  noted 
that  nothing  very  specific  has  been  said  about  the  actual 


muscular  contractions  which  appear  in  the  interpreting  re- 
actions. What  are  the  forms  of  muscular  contractions  which 
result  from  the  reading  of  Milton's  "  Comus,"  and  how  do 
they  differ  from  the  contractions  induced  by  reading  the 
jokes  in  the  daily  paper  ?  The  simple  and  straightforward 
answer  to  this  question  is  that  we  do  not  know  very  much 
about  these  details.  Probably  there  are  vast  individual  dif- 
ferences which  can  be  understood  only  when  it  is  recognized 
that  all  the  active  habits  of  an  individual  are  involved  in 
any  one  act.  These  individual  differences  account  for  the 
highly  subjective  character  of  our  tastes  and  appreciations, 
while  at  the  same  time  they  baffle  the  student  who  would 
give  a  general  scientific  explanation. 

Professor  Sievers  has  of  late  been  trying  some  interest- 
ing experiments  in  the  reactions  which  connect  themselves 
with  literary  appreciation.  He  sets  be- 
fore the  reader  sharply  contrasted  pas- 
sages, one  containing  such  adjectives 
as  "  narrow  "  and  "  straight,"  the  other 
full  of  suggestions  of  a  broad  horizon. 
With  these  passages  are  supplied  certain  visual  figures,  two 
of  which  are  shown  above.  When  the  figure  A  is  presented, 
with  a  passage  about  a  narrow,  straight  path,  the  result  is 
a  reading  of  the  passage  with  a  reenf orced  tendency  toward 
emphasis  on  tliev  narrowness  and  straightness  of  the  road. 
When,  on  the  other  hand,  the  reader  looks  at  B  and  tries 
to  read  the  passage  about  a  narrow  road,  there  is  a  curious 
feeling  of  incongruity  and  a  strain  in  the  act  of  reading. 
Professor  Sievers  explains  this  phenomenon  as  due  to  the 
induced  muscular  contractions  in  the  trunk  muscles  which 
result  from  recognition  of  the  figure.  Converse  results  ap- 
pear when  one  uses  the  figures  A  and  B  with  the  passage 
referring  to  free  space. 

These  experiments  suggest  fruitful  lines  of  investigation 
and,  at  the  same  time,  supply  the  answer  to  our  critical 


204     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

reader.  Our  psychology  has  been  so  absorbed  up  to  this 
time  in  the  study  of  impressions  that  it  has  not  dealt  ade- 
quately with  reactions.  Hence  we  are  not  equipped  with 
details.  We  are,  however,  supported  in  our  generalizations 
by  a  growing  body  of  evidence. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  INTERPRETATIONS 

With  this  psychological  analysis  of  literary  appreciation 
we  may  turn  to  several  of  the  practical  implications  of  the 
doctrines  which  have  been  developed.  In  the  first  place, 
one  realizes  that  literary  appreciation  depends  upon  the 
growth  of  experience.  Little  children  cannot  be  expected 
to  have  very  much  literary  appreciation.  Then-  apprecia- 
tion is  l£een  for  such  primitive  characteristics  as  the  rhyth- 
mic forms  of  speech.  The  content  of  the  primitive  rhythms 
most  readily  appreciated  is  a  curious  mixture  of  narrative 
and  nonsense.  The  little  child  enjoys  Mother  Goose  quite 
as  much  as  he  would  enjoy  a  poem  full  of  sound,  wholesome 
moral  doctrines,  for  in  any  case  the  content  is  subordinated 
to  the  rhythm.  He  enjoys  the  Mother  Goose  because  it 
makes  an  appeal  to  his  sense  of  rhythm  and  because  the 
words  arouse  all  sorts  of  familiar  reactions  in  a  confusing 
but  stimulating  medley. 

With  the  growth  of  more  mature  ideas  there  is  an  in- 
creasing emphasis  on  the  reactions  which  are  aroused  by  the 
content,  but  we  cannot  depend  upon  literature  alone  to 
create  an  appreciation  of  the  larger  experiences  of  life.  We 
cannot  depend  upon  any  study  of  a  verbal  type  to  create  a 
large  appreciation  of  one's  social  relations.  One  must  have 
come  in  contact  with  social  relations  and  must  have  seen  his 
dependence  upon  his  neighbors  in  such  a  way  that  he  reacts 
to  the  whole  social  environment  with  some  degree  of  intel- 
ligence before  he  can  have  a  full  appreciation  of  verbal  state- 
ments which  call  attention  to  his  contact  with  his  fellows. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COURSES     205 

On  the  other  hand,  it  should  be  recognized  at  once  that 
verbal  descriptions  help  the  student  to  see  the  contrasting 
factors  of  his  world  of  experiences.  Point  out  to  a  child 
that  some  acts  are  good  and  moral  and  others  are  bad  and 
immoral,  and  he  will  forever  after  be  more  keenly  aware  of 
this  contrast  than  he  was  before  he  received  the  instruction 
contained  in  those  words.  Words  are  themselves  significant 
reactions,  and  one's  organization  of  experience  depends  on 
their  use.  Words  help  to  mature  one's  ideas  of  the  world. 
Literary  appreciation  is  thus  seen  to  be  a  developing  agency 
as  well  as  a  result. 

» 

EXAMPLES  AS  MEANS  OF  LITERAEY  INSTRUCTION 

Another  application  of  our  studies  is  seen  in  the  fact 
that  literature  is  a  means  of  modifying  one's  own  mode  of 
speech  and  writing.  We  must  accordingly  consider  the  re- 
lation of  appreciation  of  the  writings  of  others  to  one's  own 
modes  of  expression.  It  is  a  fundamental  mistake  to  as- 
sume that  a  child  must  be  able  to  produce  a  literary  passage 
in  order  to  appreciate  it.  Indeed,  the  mere  shock  of  con- 
trast between  what  he  would  himself  do  in  a  given  case 
and  what  some  writer  has  done  for  him  is  perhaps  the  most 
significant  contribution  which  can  be  made  to  the  student's 
education.  That  student  who  is  confronted  day  after  day 
by  his  own  productions  is  likely  to  find  his  habits  of  ex- 
pression and  thought  very  much  narrowed  by  this  contact 
with  his  own  work.  Bad  habits  of  expression  become  fixed, 
and  the  general  level  of  mediocrity  is  established,  from  which 
there  is  no  escape.  If  there  is  anything  that  composition 
has  demonstrated  in  the  schools,  it  is  that  students  may  be 
correct  within  the  limits  of  their  own  possibilities  of  ex- 
pression and  yet  be  most  commonplace  in  all  that  they  say 
and  write.  The  teacher  hardly  knows  how  to  tell  the  medi- 
ocre student  what  is  wrong.  What  the  teacher  would  like  to 


206     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

say  to  the  student  is,  perhaps,  something  like  this :  "  Your 
sentences  are  all  right,  but  they  show  no  variety  in  form. 
There  is  no  pleasing  aesthetic  change  in  the  modes  of  ex- 
pression. There  is  no  spontaneity  and  change  of  temper 
from  paragraph  to  paragraph.  Get  some  variety  into  your 
writing. "  A  student  thus  addressed  by  a  teacher  would  be 
wholly  at  a  loss  to  know  what  is  meant.  He  has  laboriously 
hammered  out  one  sentence  after  another,  painfully  express- 
ing the  best  that  he  had  in  each  of  these  sentences,  and  now 
the  teacher  comes  to  him  with  the  preposterous  criticism 
that  this  is  all  right  and  yet  worthless.  What  that  student 
needs  is  to  come  in  contact  with  somebody  else  and  hear 
somebody  else's  longer  sentences  and  variety  of  expres- 
sion. He  needs  to  be  taken  out  of  his  own  limited  sphere 
of  thought  and  language  and  introduced  to  a  sphere  of 
thought  and  language  created  by  someone  who  has  a 
broader  experience  and  broader  scope  of  language.  The 
introduction  of  a  student  to  this  higher  and  more  elaborate 
sphere  of  expression  is  attended  by  all  sorts  of  difficulties, 
to  which  attention  has  been  called.  There  is  danger  that 
he  will  be  suddenly  elevated  into  an  atmosphere  which  he 
cannot  breathe.  He  will  fail  to  appreciate  what  he  reads 
because  it  is  so  far  beyond  his  comprehension  that  he  is  en- 
tirely lost  in  his  efforts  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the 
passages  before  him.  The  teacher,  in  the  meantime,  being  a 
person  of  wider  experience  and  broader  training,  will  have 
no  sympathy  with  the  inability  of  the  student  to  react  upon 
this  larger  body  of  ideas,  or  else  he  will  become  so  accus- 
tomed to  the  immaturity  of  his  students  that  he  will  him- 
self be  dragged  down  to  the  level  of  the  immature  thought 
of  his  class.  It  is  a  pathetic  sight  to  see  some  teacher  of 
literature  who  probably  once  realized  that  "  Julius  Caesar  " 
was  worth  reading,  trying  to  get  this  drama  down  to  the 
point  where  it  can  at  least  be  recited  upon  by  his  class. 
Teacher  and  students  alike  have  lost  all  appreciation  in 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COURSES     207 

the  effort  to  cram  the  text  into  the  narrow  spaces  which  are 
furnished  by  the  comprehension  of  the  immature  class  and 
the  bored  teacher. 


TRAINING  IN  VERNACULAR  MUST  BE  BROADENED 

Finally,  the  outcome  of  our  study  must  be  the  conviction 
that  the  gravest  problem  of  English  teaching  is  to  train  in 
the  broad  appreciation  of  all  kinds  of  material,  while  at  the 
same  time  we  subject  all  kinds  of  materials  to  the  refining 
effects  of  literary  formulation.  The  student  will  bring  new 
ideas  to  the  English  class  from  the  preceding  recitation  in 
science.  The  teacher  ought  to  be  able  to  utilize  this  experi- 
ence, and  ought  to  send  back  to  the  science  class  the  advan- 
tages which  would  come  if  the  student  knew  how  to  express 
in  clear,  well-arranged  sentences  the  findings  of  his  scientific 
study.  We  have  some  experiments  in  this  direction. 

The  Cicero  Township  High  School  has  a  formulated 
series  of  requirements  in  English  which  are  enforced  in  all 
classes.  The  author  is  indebted  to  Principal  H.  V.  Church 
for  the  following  series  of  "  direction  sheets "  used  in 
carrying  out  this  plan. 

PLAN  OF  GENERAL  ENGLISH  INSTRUCTION  IN  CICERO 
TOWNSHIP  HIGH  SCHOOL 

The  following  requirements  shall  be  enforced  in  all  depart- 
ments, and  shall  be  the  basis  for  the  English  grade : 

ENGLISH  1 
FIRST  SEMESTER.    FIRST  MONTH 

Oral.  1.  Not  more  than  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  recita- 
tion shall  be  in  incomplete  sentences.  These  recitations  may 
be  given  while  the  pupil  is  seated. 

2.  The  careful  enunciation  of  syllables,  particularly  of  final 
syllables,  shall  be  insisted  upon. 


208    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

Written.  1.  Balanced  margins  shall  be  maintained  both  at 
the  top  and  bottom  and  at  the  sides  of  the  page  on  which  the 
written  composition  is  placed. 

2.  Paragraphs  shall  be  indented. 

3.  Sentences  shall  begin  with  capitals. 

4.  Sentences  shall  close  with  periods. 

5.  The  use  of  incomplete  sentences'  shall  not  be  allowed. 

6.  Written  work  shall  be  legible. 

7.  A  liberal  space  shall  intervene  between  consecutive  lines 
and  consecutive  words. 

FIBST  SEMESTER.    SECOND  MONTH 

Oral.  3.  If  the  recitation  gives  promise  of  continuing  for 
several  sentences,  the  pupil  shall  rise  and  stand  erect  and  free. 

Written.  8.  The  use  of  commas  in  series  shall  be  insisted 
upon. 

FIRST  SEMESTER.    THIRD  MONTH 

Oral.  4.  Sentences  shall  not  be  introduced  with  such  words 
as  «  why,"  «  well,"  "  ah,"  etc. 

Written.  9.  The  use  of  long,  straggling  compound  sentences 
shall  not  be  permitted. 

FIRST  SEMESTER.    FOURTH  MONTH 

Oral.    5.  The  use  of  slang  shall  not  be  permitted. 
Written.    10.  The  iise  of  slang  shall  not  be  permitted. 

ENGLISH  1 
SECOND  SEMESTER.    FIRST  MONTH 

Oral.  6.  The  discriminating  use  of  words  peculiar  to  your 
department  shall  be  inculcated. 

Written.  11.  Opening  sentences  of  paragraphs  shall  contain 
a  topic  statement. 

SECOND  SEMESTER.    THIRD  MONTH 

Oral.  7.  Opening  sentences  of  paragraphs  shall  contain  a 
topic  statement. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  ENGLISH  COUESES     209 

Written.  12.  Single  paragraphs,  especially  those  of  consid- 
erable length,  and  the  closing  paragraphs  of  related  paragraphs, 
shall  be  concluded  with  a  summarizing  statement. 

ENGLISH  2 
FIRST  SEMESTER.    FIRST  MONTH 

Oral.  8.  If  the  recitation  is  of  the  nature  of  a  report,  or 
lengthens  to  a  paragraph,  the  pupil  shall  stand  in  front  of  the 
room  before  the  class. 

Written.  13.  A  dependent  clause  standing  first  in  the  sen- 
tence shall  be  followed  by  a  comma. 

FIRST  SEMESTER.    SECOND  MONTH 

Oral.   9.  Errors  in  grammar  shall  not  be  permitted. 
Written.    14.  In  a  compound  sentence,  independent  clauses 
not  closely  related  shall  be  separated  by  a  comma. 

FIRST  SEMESTER.    THIRD  MONTH 

Oral.    10.  Recitations  shall  be  audible  to  all. 
Written.    15.    Parenthetical   material   shall   be  set  off   by 
commas. 

FIRST  SEMESTER.    FOURTH  MONTH 

Oral.  11.  In  talking  on  a  topic,  the  pupils  shall  look  their 
classmates  in  the  eyes  and  assume  a  free  and  easy  position. 


These  and  like  requirements  are  to  be  imposed  on  the 
science  class  and  the  mathematics  class  by  the  teachers  of 
science  and  mathematics  for  the  sake  of  clearness  in  science 
and  mathematics.  Such  requirements  are  good  and  they 
generalize  English  in  spite  of  the  English  teachers. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  English  teachers  are  induced  in 
other  high  schools  to  require  or  allow  science  themes  and 
history  themes.  This  coordination  is  usually  opposed  on 


210    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

both  sides.  The  science  and  history  teachers  object  that 
the  English  teachers  do  not  understand  the  subject  matter. 
The  English  teacher  usually  assents  to  the  objection  raised 
by  the  other  departments,  and  adds  the  fact  that  all  English 
teachers  are  overworked.  The  net  result,  after  a  spasm  of 
correlation,  is  usually  a  smug  and  complacent  retirement  of 
English  into  its  own  peculiar  field,  while  science  and  history 
turn  to  the  task  of  cultivating  subject  matter,  and  inciden- 
tally requiring  periods  now  and  then  at  the  end  of  sentences. 
The  formula  which  suggests  itself  to  the  nonpartisan 
outsider  is  one  of  readjustment.  Let  us  find  someone  bold 
enough  to  try  the  following  experiment :  Teach  in  one  course 
the  elements  of  form.  Make  it  a  good  course,  frankly  dealing 
with  sentence  and  paragraph  structure.  Then  teach  some 
of  the  history  of  literature,  and  train  students  to  read,  not 
dissect,  some  of  the  literary  masterpieces.  Then  relieve 
the  English  department  of  further  duties,  so  far  as  required 
work  in  the  school  is  concerned.  Take  the  time  that  would 
thus  be  saved  and  give  it  to  history  and  science,  but  add  the 
requirement  that  these  courses  be  conducted  in  the  English 
language,  and  not  in  the  ejaculatory  and  explosive  mono- 
syllabic pretenses  at  expression  now  commonly  tolerated. 


CHAPTER  X 

FOREIGN  LANGUAGES 

The  psychologist  experiences  little  or  no  difficulty  in 
finding  material  for  his  discussions  in  the  field  of  the 
teaching  of  foreign  languages.  From  the  earliest  period  of 
such  instruction,  teachers  have  discussed  the  principles  of 
mental  operation  which  underlie  their  methods.  The  psy- 
chologist could  confine  his  efforts  to  a  review  of  the  various 
methods  and  of  what  has  been  said  in  support  of  them  if  it 
were  not  for  the  fact  that  there  are  such  glaring  disagree- 
ments in  the  statements  made  by  language  teachers  that 
he  is  compelled  to  add  critical  comments  to  his  reviews. 

METHOD  OF  THIS  CHAPTER 

Our  method  of  procedure  in  this  chapter  will  accordingly 
differ  from  the  method  adopted  in  discussing  mathematics 
and  English.  We  shall  examine  critically  certain  of  the 
more  important  discussions  of  the  teaching  of  foreign  lan- 
guages. We  are  forced  to  select  from  the  great  mass  of 
material  which  is  at  hand,  otherwise  we  should  be  led  into 
too  lengthy  a  treatment  of  this  single  field.  The  reader 
who  wishes  to  go  more  fully  into  the  history  of  these  dis- 
cussions should  take  in  hand  some  of  the  special  discussions 
of  methods  in  the  classics 1  and  modern  languages.2 

1  C.  E.  Bennett  and  G.  P.  Bristol,  The  Teaching  of  Latin  and  Greek. 
Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1906. 

2  For  a  general  discussion  of  this  matter  as  well  as  the  history  of  the 
teaching  of  modern  languages  see  Teachers  College  Record,  May,  1903, 
Vol.  IV,  No.  3,  pp.  1-92.    This  is  also  published  as  a  separate  volume 
under  the  title,  The  Teaching -of  Modern  Languages,  by  Leopold  Bahl- 
sen  (translated  by  M.  B.  Evans).   Ginn  and  Company,  1905. 

211 


212     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

For  our  purposes  it  is  not  important  that  we  should 
distinguish  sharply  between  the  classics  and  the  modern 
languages.  Since  the  more  recent  and  more  vigorous  dis- 
cussions of  methods  relate  to  modern  languages,  we  shall 
pay  attention  chiefly  to  these  rather  than  to  the  classics. 

Before  entering  upon  the  discussion  of  methods  it  may 
be  well  to  point  out  the  urgent  need  of  an  impersonal, 
scientific  study  of  our  problem.  Many  recent  discussions 
have  been  of  a  bitter  partisan  type.  Particularly  during  the 
last  fifty  years,  since  Herbert  Spencer  made  his  pointed 
attack  upon  classical  education,  there  has  been  exhibited, 
especially  among  those  interested  in  the  newer  subjects, 
a  very  intolerant  attitude  toward  foreign-language  instruc- 
tion. The  classics  above  all,  and  to  some  extent  the 
modern  languages,  have  been  called  upon  to  indicate  the 
grounds  on  which'  they  can  properly  maintain  their  position 
in  the  curriculum. 

GROUNDS  URGED  IN  FAVOR  OF  REQUIRING  LANGUAGES 

In  answer  to  this  challenge  the  defenders  of  the  lan- 
guages have  urged  three  justifications  for  their  courses: 
first,  languages  are  supposed  to  give  a  type  of  mental 
training  which  is  advantageous  quite  apart  from  the  con- 
tent which  the  text  supplies ;  second,  the  study  of  a  foreign 
language  is  said  to  be  very  advantageous  in  clearing  up  a 
student's  notion  of  his  own  language,  both  in  matters  of 
structure  and  in  matters  of  vocabulary ;  finally,  the  study 
of  a  foreign  language  is  supposed  to  be  the  means  of  bring- 
ing the  student  into  contact  with  a  culture  other  than  that 
which  he  knows  in  his  native  land.1 

The  first  two  arguments  are  psychological  in  type  and 
have  been  elaborately  argued  on  both  sides.  Indeed,  in  a 

1  F.  W.  Kelsey,  Latin  and  Greek  in  American  Education.  The  Mac- 
inillan  Company,  1911. 


FOKEIGN  LANGUAGES  213 

very  important  sense  the  languages,  because  they  are  the 
subjects  which  have  long  held  leading  place  in  the  curricu- 
lum, have  had  to  take  the  brunt  of  a  psychological  discus- 
sion which  is  in  reality  very  general  in  its  scope.  For 
example,  the  general  doctrine  that  a  subject  may  be  studied 
with  advantage  quite  apart  from  the  content  of  the  text  is 
an  argument  that  has  been  presented  by  every  subject  in 
the  curriculum  at  some  time  or  other.  But  the  classics 
have  presented  this  argument  with  such  clearness  and  such 
force  that  they  have  become  the  center  of  the  debate.  The 
classics,  more  than  any  other  subject,  have  been  charged 
with  support  of  the  general  doctrine  of  formal  discipline. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  natural  sciences  have  assumed 
more  commonly  than  the  classics  the  validity  of  this  prin- 
ciple of  formal  discipline.  When  one  considers  that  the 
various  sciences  in  the  curriculum  have  been  satisfied  to 
give  very  short  courses,  on  the  theory  that  if  a  student 
were  introduced  to  the  methods  of  the  science  he  would  be 
able  to  carry  these  methods  over  into  all  sorts  of  situations 
that  have  not  been  canvassed  in  the  class  itself,  one  sees  that 
the  sciences  have  been  assuming,  in  very  large  measure, 
that  training  given  in  a  brief  course  will  carry  over  into 
all  sorts  of  varying  situations.  The  advocates  of  sciences 
have  been  exultant  in  the  recent  criticisms  of  formal  dis- 
cipline, and  they  have  charged  the  classical  languages  with 
maintaining  this  doctrine  in  opposition  to  evidence,  while 
these  same  advocates  have  tried  to  justify  the  position  of 
the  sciences  in  the  school  program  by  an  appeal  to  the 
value  of  scientific  method  and  to  the  training  which  their 
subjects  give  in  observation  and  reasoning.  These  scientific 
critics  of  formal  discipline  very  seldom  make  reference  to 
Herbert  Spencer's  argument  regarding  the  formal  value  of 
science  in  his  first  essay  on  "  Education."  They  write  para- 
graphs that  can  be  quoted,  as  we  shall  show  later,  in  sup- 
port of  the  most  extreme  form  of  the  doctrine  of  formal 


214    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

discipline,  while  they  criticize  the  classics  violently  for  the 
defense  of  what  they  regard  as  an  antiquated  and  aban- 
doned theory.  The  general  discussion  of  the  doctrine  of 
formal  discipline  is  of  such  importance  that  we  shall  devote 
a  later  chapter  to  this  subject.  For  our  present  purposes  it  is 
enough  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  languages  have 
borne  an  undue  share  of  this  general  discussion  just  because 
they  are  in  point  of  method  and  in  point  of  pedagogical  the- 
ory more  mature  than  the  other  subjects  of  the  curriculum. 

PARTISAN  DISCUSSIONS  OBSCURE  ISSUES 

With  regard  to  the  second  and  third  arguments  for 
language  study  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  truth  is  sadly 
obscured  by  the  most  violent  partisan  statements.  In  recent 
years  English,  as  a  special  subject,  has  received  so  much 
attention  in  the  course  of  study  that  there  is  less  patience 
than  there  otherwise  would  be  with  the  second  argument. 
The  third  leads  to  enthusiastic  comments  on  classical  civ- 
ilizations on  the  one  side  and  to  the  bitterest  attacks  on 
classical  culture  on  the  other. 

There  is  indeed  a  certain  psychological  phenomenon  in 
the  very  partisanship  which  is  here  observed.  The  psychol- 
ogy of  a  violent  reaction  is  always  an  interesting  topic  for 
the  student  of  social  life,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
we  have  here  a  violent  reaction.  There  was  a  time  when 
the  classical  languages  were  so  in  control  of  the  curriculum 
that  there  was  no  disposition  to  question  the  pedagogical 
wisdom  of  administering  to  every  student  a  great  deal  of 
language  instruction.  It  took  generations  of  dissatisfaction 
with  the  methods  employed  in  language  instruction  and 
with  the  results  that  come  from  this  instruction  to  prepare 
the  way  for  the  attitude  which  many  now  assume  toward 
the  languages.  Furthermore,  after  the  storm  began  to  rise, 
friends  of  the  classics  made  what  now  appears  to  have  been 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  215 

a  grave  strategical  blunder.  They  attempted  by.  sheer  ad- 
ministrative authority  to  require  the  languages,  and  thus 
they  alienated  those  who  otherwise  would  have  been  pre- 
pared to  discuss  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  these 
subjects  in  a  purely  impersonal  way.  It  must  be  admitted 
also  that  the  friends  of  the  classics  have  not  been  wise  in 
their  day  and  generation,  for  they  have  been  slow  to  change 
*their  methods  of  teaching  in  such  a  way  as  to  meet  the 
legitimate  demands  of  the  modern  curriculum.  The  modern 
curriculum  is  not,  as  was  pointed  out  in  the  introductory 
discussion,  a  series  of  courses  intended  for  the  student  who 
is  specializing  with  a  view  to  entering  the  professions.  The 
modern  high-school  course  of  study  is  offered  to  a  very 
wide  and  cosmopolitan  constituency.  Whatever  may  have 
been  true  of  the  boys  of  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  it 
certainly  is  not  true  at  the  present  time  that  every  student 
will  benefit  by  a  long  and  rigorous  course  in  the  classics  or 
in  one  of  the  foreign  modern  languages.  Perhaps  we  shall 
find  later,  as  we  become  more  experienced  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  type  of  high-school  course  which  we  now 
have,  that  brief  courses  in  a  great  many  different  subjects 
are  not  the  most  desirable  type  of  courses.  But  at  the 
present  moment  such  general  courses  are  administered  in 
practically  every  department  except  the  languages.  Stu- 
dents certainly  have  a  right  to  ask,  at  the  end  of  a  year 
of  work  in  any  subject,  that  they  carry  away  something 
that  is  of  real  importance  in  their  intellectual  development. 
Language  teachers,  accustomed  to  having  a  major  place  on 
the  school  program,  are  very  intolerant  of  any  suggestion 
that  they  ought  to  give  the  student  something  that  is 
of  real  intellectual  value  in  so  short  a  period  as  a  single 
year.  This  unwillingness  of  the  language  teachers  to  ac- 
commodate their  subjects  in  any  wise  to  the  general  spirit 
of  the  modern  curriculum  is. undoubtedly  disadvantageous 
to  their  subject. 


216     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

GENERAL  COURSES  DESIRABLE 

We  shall  have  occasion  later  to  point  out  that  there  are 
possibilities  in  language  study  of  a  generalized  treatment 
of  language  which  would  be  very  useful  to  a  student  who 
does  not  intend  to  read  the  language  with  success  or  to 
become  directly  acquainted  with  its  literature.  But  such  a 
generalized  course  in  language  requires  the  highest  type  o£ 
genius  on  the  part  of  the  instructor  and  on  the  part  of  the 
department  which  is  to  organize  it.1  Teachers  of  language 
have  very  seldom  seen  the  possibilities  of  such  a  language 
course.  It  is  to  be  reiterated  that  such  language  courses  are 
at  least  thinkable,  and  for  the  sake  of  their  own  depart- 
ments teachers  should  give  them  careful  consideration.  If 
the  languages  would  make  a  genuine  effort  to  interest  stu- 
dents by  putting  in  the  foreground  some  of  the  general 
principles  of  language  structure,  thus  using  the  rich  body 
of  material  which  is  known  to  comparative  philology,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  at  all  that  much  of  the  prejudice  against 
the  long  courses  which  are  now  required  as  the  only  means 
of  studying  language  would  tend  to  disappear.  Further- 
more, if  the  administrative  device  of  trying  to  bolster  up 
the  languages  by  requirements  of  a  type  which  none  of 
the  other  subjects  adopt  were  abandoned  by  the  defenders 
of  these  subjects,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  general 
emotional  tone  of  the  educational  world  toward  language 
instruction  would  be  materially  modified. 

We  must,  however,  come  back  from  this  digression  into 
the  psychology  of  social  reactions  and  devote  ourselves  to 
the  psychology  of  foreign  languages.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  purpose  of  this  digression  will  be  served,  in  that  the 
reader  will  be  prepared  to  lay  aside  prejudices  either  for  or 

1  Indirectly  the  report  of  the  Joint  Committee  on  Grammatical  No- 
menclature is  of  interest  to  the  advocate  of  such  a  generalized  course. 
Proceedings  of  the  National  Education  Association,  1913,  pp.  316  ff. 


FOKEIGN  LANGUAGES  217 

against  language  instruction  and  devote  himself  for  a  time 
to  the  single  problem,  What  are  the  psychological  problems 
involved  in  such  instruction? 


Turning  to  the  various  methods  which  have  been  sug- 
gested for  language  teaching,  we  find  an  excellent  sum- 
mary in  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Twelve  of  the 
Modern  Language  Association  of  America.  This  report  was 
presented  to  the  Modern  Language  Association  in  1898,  It 
was  reported  also  to  the  National  Education  Association.1 

GRAMMATICAL  METHOD 

The  first  method  which  is  discussed  in  this  report  is  the 
grammatical  method.  When  this  method  is  followed,  a 
series  of  paradigms  are  presented  to  the  student  before  he 
is  introduced  to  sentences  or  to  the  study  of  a  consecutive 
text.  After  mastering  a  number  of  the'  forms,  the  student 
is  introduced  to  the  simple  rules  of  syntax,  and  sentences 
illustrating  these  facts  of  syntax  are  constructed  out  of  the 
words  which  he  has  encountered.  He  is  also  required  to 
translate  simple  sentences  from  the  vernacular  into  the 
foreign  language.  This  again  is  for  purposes  of  illustrating 
the  rules  of  syntax  which  are  given  to  him  in  the  gram- 
mar. Finally,  after  a  considerable  period  the  student  is 
allowed  to  read  some  of  the  classics  of  the  foreign  lan- 
guage ;  but  the  reading  is  slow,  and  a  good  deal  of  attention 
is  given  to  the  parsing  of  words,  with  a  view  to  training 
the  student  in  the  details  of  grammatical  structure. 

1  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  of  the  United  States,  whole 
number  158,  Vol.  II,  pp.  1391-1433,  for  the  year  1897-1898.  Printed  by 
the  government  printing  office  in  1899.  Also  Proceedings  of  the  National 
Education  Association,  1899,  pp.  707-755. 


218     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

The  Committee  of  Twelve  presents  arguments  for  and 
against  this  method.  "  It  trains  the  mnemonic  faculty.  .  .  . 
The  careful  study  of  grammatical  rules  and  their  nice 
application  in  translation  and  composition  form  one  of  the 
best  possible  exercises  in  close  reasoning." 

These  two  arguments  in  favor  of  the  method  hardly  need 
to  be  restated  in  psychological  form.  They  both  assume  that 
certain  mental  powers  need  to  be  trained,  without  reference 
to  the  content  of  the  text  which  is  being  read.  We  have 
had  occasion  in  an  earlier  connection  to  comment  on  the 
present-day  attitude  toward  memory  work.  In  referring  to 
some  of  the  discussions  in  mathematics,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered that  it  was  pointed  out  that  at  the  present  time  there 
is  a  violent  reaction  against  the  view  that  the  memory  ought 
to  be  trained.  Furthermore,  since  William  James  wrote  his 
chapter  on  memory,1  grave  question  arises  against  any  view 
which  assumes  that  the  training  of  the  memory  in  one  field 
aids  memory  in  other  fields  of  experience. 

The  second  argument  in  favor  of  the  grammatical  method 
is  purely  and  simply  an  argument  in  favor  of  formal  disci- 
pline, and  we  can  dispose  of  the  matter  by  referring  forward 
to  a  later  special  chapter  on  this  subject. 

Against  the  grammatical  method  the  Committee  of 
Twelve  argues  that  it  omits  "  the  broadening  of  the  mind 
through  contact  with  life  .  .  .  and  the  cultivation  of  the 
artistic  sense  by  the  appreciative  study  of  literary  master- 
pieces. ..."  Furthermore,  the  grammatical  method  fails  to 
stimulate  and  maintain  the  interest  of  students. 

We  are  led  in  the  first  of  these  arguments  against  the 
grammatical  method  back  to  one  of  the  general  contentions 
in  favor  of  the  study  of  foreign  language.  As  pointed  out 
above,  when  advocates  defend  foreign  languages  in  the 
secondary-school  course,  on  the  ground  of  the  value  of 

1  Principles  of  Psychology,  Vol.  I,  chap,  xvi,  especially  pp.  663  ff. 
Henry  Holt  and  Company,  1890. 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  219 

the  content  of  texts,  we  are  dealing  with  an  argument 
that  is  not  psychological  in  its  character,  and  we  need  not 
take  it  up  in  any  detail. 

PSYCHOLOGY  OF  INTEREST 

The  contention  that  the  grammatical  method  does  not 
maintain  interest  is  so  general  that  if  one  attempts  to  sub- 
ject it  to  a  psychological  analysis,  he  is  led  into  the  broad 
and  somewhat  vague  discussions  which  characterize  the 
Herbartian  pedagogy.  This  pedagogy  emphasized  interest 
as  one  of  the  most  important  psychological  concepts  for  the 
teacher.  The  conflicting  interpretations  that  have  been  put 
on  the  Herbartian  doctrine  of  interest  justify  us  in  passing 
on  to  more  definite  problems  without  any  attempt  to  revive 
the  discussions  that  center  about  this  word. 

ANALYSIS  AS  A  PRODUCT  OF  LANGUAGE  STUDY 

The  discussion  of  the  grammatical  method  brings  us  into 
one  of  the  very  general  problems  of  education.  Every 
mental  process  involves  a  certain  degree  of  analysis.  The 
analysis  of  spatial  experiences  was  fully  illustrated  in  an 
earlier  chapter. 

Grammatical  studies  are  analytical  studies.  The  sentence 
is  taken  apart  and  its  various  elements  and  then:  relations 
are  examined  in  detail.  The  question  which  confronts  the 
teacher  is  not,  Should  analysis  be  made  ?  for  sooner  or 
later  the  sentence  will  be  analyzed  by  any  careful  reader. 
The  question  is  rather  when  and  how  shall  the  analysis  be 
made.  As  to  when,  it  is  now  very  generally  agreed  that 
students  should  not  be  called  on  to  analyze  any  body  of 
experience  until  they  have  in  their  own  minds  some  ex- 
amples of  the  matter  which  is  to  be  analyzed.  Further, 
it  is  agreed  that  complete  analysis  is  the  function  of  the 
mature  mind  rather  than  of  the  child's  mind. 


220     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

REACTION  ON  VERNACULAR 

We  may  therefore  argue  that  analysis  of  grammatical 
structures  is  very  properly  a  function  of  education  at  its 
higher  levels.  One  of  the  advantages  of  studying  a  foreign 
language  is  that  such  a  language  lends  itself  more  readily 
to  a  scientific  study  than  does  the  vernacular.  The  point 
of  view  which  one  has  toward  his  vernacular  is  an  intimate 
unanalytical  point  of  view ;  he  is  not  explicitly  aware  of 
the  fact  that  language  has  structure.  He  never  takes  a 
view  of  his  native  tongue  from  what  might  be  called  the 
outsider's  point  of  view.  He  is  always  using  this  language, 
and  its  structural  peculiarities  seem  to  him  to  be  so  natural 
that  they  seldom  arouse  in  his  mind  any  questions.  If  now 
the  school  can,  through  instruction  in  foreign  language, 
develop  a  wholly  new  point  of  view  with  regard  to  lan- 
guage, it  will  certainly  contribute  to  the  student's  training. 
Hence,  as  is  often  pointed  out,  a  foreign  language  is  the 
best  instrument  with  which  to  teach  English  grammar. 
The  abstractness  of  English  grammar  as  it  was  taught 
a  generation  ago  in  the  upper  grades  of  the  elementary 
schools  has  led  to  an  abandonment,  for  the  most  part,  of 
that  type  of  study.  Some  substitute  for  this  old-fashioned 
abstract  grammar  certainly  must  be  found,  and  one  of  the 
difficulties  in  finding  a  substitute  arises  from  the  fact  that 
English  has  so  little  structure  of  its  own,  either  in  inflection 
or  in  the  principles  under  which  its  sentences  are  put  to- 
gether, that  it  is  difficult  to  give  a  student  the  notions  of 
language  structure  through  the  use  of  our  highly  simplified 
language.  Furthermore,  as  stated  above,  the  analytical  point 
of  view  is  not  easy  to  assume. 

If  now  we  can  use  a  foreign  language  as  a  basis  of 
comparison  and  can,  at  the  same  time,  give  the  essential 
principles  of  this  foreign  grammar,  we  shall  gain  a  double 
advantage,  because  the  student  from  the  outset  can  assume 


FOKEIGN  LANGUAGES  221 

toward  the  foreign  language  an  entirely  different  attitude 
from  that  which  he  takes  toward  his  own  tongue.  When 
the  advantages  of  teaching  foreign  language  are  finally 
formulated  by  teachers  of  language,  this  argument  for  a 
clear  understanding  of  the  structure  of  the  vernacular  will 
doubtless  survive  as  one  of  the  most  important  reasons  for 
teaching  foreign  languages. 

ANALYTICAL  ATTITUDE  NATURAL  TO  ADULTS 

Two  further  comments  suggest  themselves :  first,  an  adult 
who  is  attacking  a  foreign  language  for  the  first  time  will 
naturally  assume  from  the  outset  an  analytical  attitude 
toward  the  study  because  much  of  his  training  has  made 
him  analytical  in  his  habits  of  thought;  second,  a  foreign 
language  might  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  training  the 
student  in  analysis  without  carrying  him  very  far  into  a 
reading  or  speaking  command  of  the  language.  The  ar- 
gument for  such  scientific  studies  of  language  will  be 
presented  more  fully  after  we  have  canvassed  other  con- 
tributing lines  of  thought. 

NATURAL  METHOD 

The  foregoing  discussion  has  anticipated  in  a  measure 
the  treatment  of  the  second  method  of  teaching  foreign 
languages  discussed  by  the  Committee  of  Twelve  ;  namely, 
the  natural  method.  The  fundamental  teaching  of  this 
method  is  that  the  adult  should  acquire  a  foreign  language 
in  the  same  way  that  a  child  masters  his  mother  tongue. 

In  criticism  of  this  method  the  Committee  calls  attention 
to  the  fact  that  the  advocates  of  the  natural  method  "  over- 
look, first,  the  fact  that  the  child  requires  eight  or  ten  years 
of  incessant  practice  to  gain  even  a  tolerable  command  of 
his  own  tongue,  and,  secondly,  the  vast  difference  between 


222    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

the  mind  of  the  baby  and  that  of  the  youth."  To  show  the 
difference  between  the  mature  and  immature  mind  the  Com- 
mittee considers  the  facts  of  pronunciation,  calling  attention 
to  the  observation  that  a  little  child  learns  by  imitation, 
while  the  boy  of  maturer  years  does  not  imitate,  but  rather 
selects  from  the  stock  of  acquired  modes  of  pronunciation 
one  which  he  applies  to  the  present  situation. 

This  illustration  is  a  very  suggestive  one  from  the  point 
of  view  of  psychological  analysis.  Undoubtedly  the  authors 
of  the  Committee's  report  had  in  mind  the  contentions  of 
those  who  have,  of  late,  been  describing  the  phonetic  method 
of  teaching  the  pronunciation  of  foreign  languages.  Per- 
haps the  simplest  way  of  reenforcing  their  statement  that 
there  is  a  difference  in  the  mode  of  learning  pronunciation 
in  the  later  stages  of  life  is  to  repeat  a  paragraph  published 
by  a  recent  writer  in  the  School  Review.1 

PKONUNCIATION ;  IMITATION  VERSUS  PHONIC  ANALYSIS 

In  the  November,  1913,  School  Review,  M.  Locard  has  an 
article  entitled  "  French  in  the  Public  High  Schools."  In  try- 
ing to  demonstrate  that  conversational  French  is  inadvisable, 
M.  Locard  affirms :  "  It  seems  rational  to  say  that  French 
nationality,  backed  by  education  and  experience,  is  the  absolute 
requisite  for  any  person  who  claims  to  teach  French.  A  Ger- 
man, an  American,  a  Japanese  may  have  mastered  the  language 
to  some  extent,  but  with  few  exceptions,  the  standard  of  his 
pronunciation  will  always  be  below  that  of  any  mature  French- 
man." Thus  are  we  to  conclude  that  the  requisite  for  teaching 
French  pronunciation  is  a  good  pronunciation  ?  The  French 
nation,  as  regards  the  teaching  of  English  and  German,  has 
answered  this  question  in  the  negative.  In  Paris  the  teaching 
of  English  is  intrusted  to  Frenchmen.  In  visiting  eight  of  the 
largest  French  lycees  I  met  but  one  native  English  teacher,  and 
she  was  permitted  to  teach  permanently  only  because  she  had 
been  naturalized.  French  is  taught  in  Germany  by  Germans 

1  A.  G.  Bovee,  School  Review,  June,  1914,  Vol.  XXII,  No.  6,  p.  417. 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  223 

with  most  excellent  results.  Professor  Walter  of  Frankfurt, 
who  evidently  does  not  talk  like  a  Frenchman,  succeeds  in  get- 
ting a  very  superior  pronunciation  from  his  pupils.  Professor 
Victor  of  Marburg  gives  his  students  of  English  a  pronunciation 
which  is  almost  impeccable.  We  fear  that  M.  Locard's  state- 
ment will  scarcely  bear  comprehensive  examination.  Pronun- 
ciation is  not  contagious ;  a  little  knowledge  of  the  science  of 
phonetics  easily  turns  the  balance  against  the  native  teacher. 
Then,  too,  the  native  teacher  is  generally  entirely  lacking  in 
any  scientific  preparation  for  this  work. 

Put  into  psychological  terms  this  statement  means  that 
the  control  of  the  vocal  cords  and  of  the  other  organs  of 
articulation  can  be  learned  by  finding  out  in  detail  the 
various  positions  which  these  organs  should  assume  with 
reference  to  each  other  when  one  makes  a  sound.  The  child 
does  not  know  anything  about  his  organs,  and  consequently 
has  only  one  possible  way  of  learning  to  make  sounds.  He 
must  try  a  variety  of  experiments  and  must,  through  ex- 
perimentation and  close  attention  to  adults  about  him, 
ultimately  learn  their  methods  of  making  sounds  through 
sheer  trial  and  error.  The  adult,  on  the  other  hand,  is  fully 
equipped  with  mature  habits  of  making  sounds.  If  these 
mature  habits  are  not  counteracted  by  some  explicit  correc- 
tive method,  there  is  grave  danger  that  the  learner's  attention 
will  never  be  turned  to  the  example  of  his  teacher,  and  that 
he  will  not  be  docile  enough  in  his  trials  and  errors  to  assure 
any  modification  of  his  own  natural  method  of  producing  re- 
lated sounds.  The  more  mature  the  learner,  the  worse  he  is 
as  an  imitator.  The  concrete  cases  cited  above  by  Mr.  Bovee 
go  to  show  that  the  phonetic  study  of  sounds  has  great  ad- 
vantages for  mature  students  and  mature  teachers  as  con- 
trasted with  the  purely  imitative  method  advocated  by  those 
who  defend  the  natural  method  of  teaching  foreign  lan- 
guages. The  whole  argument  is  psychologically  sound  and 
shows  clearly  one  of  the  fallacies  of  the  natural  method. 


224     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

FOREIGN  LANGUAGE  AS  THE  MEDIUM  OF  INSTRUCTION 

There  is  one  other  characteristic  of  the  natural  method 
which  has  from  time  to  time  reappeared  in  the  later  methods. 
It  is  insisted  by  advocates  of  the  natural  method  that  only 
the  foreign  language  which  is  the  subject  of  instruction 
shall  be  used  by  the  teacher  and  by  the  student.  The  em- 
phasis which  is  laid  on  the  foreign  language  in  this  and 
other  methods  is  a  matter  of  psychological  interest. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  use  of  the  foreign  lan- 
guage as  an  instrument  for  reading  the  literature  of  that 
language,  there  can  be  no  doubt  at  all  that  the  student 
should  ultimately  reach  the  stage  which  will  make  it  un- 
necessary for  him  to  translate  each  word  into  his  own 
vernacular.  Even  those  who  lay  great  stress  upon  the 
translation  method  would  undoubtedly  recognize  the  ad- 
vantage of  this  kind  of  acquisition  of  a  foreign  language. 
It  might  be  argued  that  such  a  mastery  of  the  foreign  lan- 
guage is  seldom  attained  in  the  schools,  and  consequently 
there  will  be  many  teachers  who  will  feel  justified  in  giving 
up  from  the  outset  any  hope  of  attaining  this  desirable 
end.  They  will  insist  that  the  advantages  of  a  translation 
knowledge  are  great  enough  to  justify  the  teaching  of  a 
foreign  language  in  the  school  curriculum,  and  that  there 
is  accordingly  no  need  of  insisting  on  the  use  of  foreign 

words  in  instruction. 

/ 

TRANSLATION  AS  THE  METHOD  OF  INSTRUCTION 

The  student  of  psychology  finds  himself  in  the  position 
of  accepting  both  views.  If  one  can  get  a  reading  knowl- 
edge of  the  language,  that  is  good  ;  if  one  must  translate,  let 
him  do  so  with  diligence.  The  psychology  of  the  two  cases 
is  different.  Let  us  therefore  take  note  of  the  statements 
made  by  the  opposing  parties. 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  225 

The  proper  opinion  among  those  who  have  not  thought  the 
matter  over,  or  who  have  not  given  sufficiently  careful  atten- 
tion to  their  own  mental  processes  is  that  a  foreign  language 
can  be  understood  only  by  transposing  it  into  one's  mother 
tongue ;  but  this  is  not  so.  Those  who  read  foreign  authors  in 
the  original  with  real  advantage  do  not  actually  first  translate 
each  word,  still  less  each  sentence  or  each  period,  into  English 
before  they  proceed  further.1  (P.  48.) 

Our  ideal  must  rather  be  the  nearest  possible  approach  to  the 
native's  command  of  the  language  so  that  the  words  and  sen- 
tences may  waken  the  same  idea  in  us  as  in  the  native  —  and 
these  ideas,  as  we  well  know,  are  not  the  same  as  those  called 
forth  by  the  corresponding  words  in  our  own  language.  (P.  54.) 

For  all  these  reasons,  it  is  not  translation  (or  skill  in 
translation)  that  we  are  aiming  at  in  teaching  foreign  lan- 
guages. (P.  55.) 

Contrast  with  these  statements  by  Jespersen  the  dictum 
of  Lowell  quoted  by  Bennett.2 

In  reading  such  books  as  chiefly  deserve  to  be  read  in  any 
foreign  language,  it  is  wise  to  translate  consciously  and  in  words 
as  we  read.  There  is  no  such  help  to  a  fuller  mastery  of  our 
vernacular.  It  compels  us  to  such  a  choosing,  and  testing,  to 
so  nice  a  discrimination  of  sound,  propriety,  position,  and  shade 
of  meaning,  that  we  now  first  learn  the  secret  of  the  words  we 
have  been  using  or  misusing  all  our  lives,  and  are  gradually 
made  aware  that  to  set  forth  even  the  plainest  matter  as  it 
should  be  set  forth  is  not  only  a  very  difficult  thing,  calling 
for  thought  and  practice,  but  is  an  affair  of  conscience  as  well. 
Translation  teaches,  as  nothing  else  can,  not  only  that  there  is 
a  best  way,  but  that  it  is  the  only  way.  Those  who  have  tried 
it  know  too  well  how  easy  it  is  to  grasp  the  verbal  meaning  of 
a  sentence  or  of  a  verse.  That  is  the  bird  in  the  hand.  The 
real  meaning,  the  soul  of  it,  that  which  makes  it  literature  and 
not  jargon,  that  is  the  bird  in  the  bush,  which  tantalizes  and 

1  O.  Jespersen,  How  to  Teach  a  Foreign  Language.    Allen  &  Co.,  1912. 
• 2  Bennett  and  Bristol,  The  Teaching  of  Latin  and  Greek,  p.  18.  Long- 
mans, Green,  &  Co.,  1906. 


226     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

stimulates  with  the  vanishing  glimpses  we  catch  of  it  as  it  flits 
from  one  to  another  lurking-place : 

Et  fugit  ad  salices  et  se  cupit  ante  videri. 

The  psychologist  has  two  comments  to  offer.  First,  the 
two  kinds  of  mental  processes  sought  by  these  two  oppos- 
ing views  are  radically  different.  Second,  which  is  better  in 
any  given  social  situation  depends  on  considerations  that  are 
not  psychological.  For  example,  if  a  student  has  just  one 
year  in  which  to  get  all  the  knowledge  of  German  that  he 
is  going  to  get,  the  social  situation  is  very  different  from 
that  which  confronts  teacher  and  student  when  the  latter 
expects  to  take  German  four  years  in  succession.  Those 
language  teachers  who  oppose  translation  to  direct  knowl- 
edge of  the  foreign  language  should  realize  that  both  are 
psychologically  possible,  but  that  one  or  the  other  can  be 
more  advantageously  sought  under  given  conditions. 

THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  METHOD 

The  third  method  which  is  discussed  in  the  Report  of  the 
Committee  of  Twelve  is  the  so-called  psychological  method.1 
There  are  two  distinct  characteristics  of  this  method :  first, 
the  word  is  learned  in  close  association  with  the  object  to 
which  it  refers  and  much  emphasis  is  laid  on  sensory  expe- 
riences as  giving  words  their  value  and  meaning;  second, 
all  words  are  acquired  as  parts  of  short  sentences,  these 
sentences  being  at  the  outset  of  the  study  very  simple, 
and  gradually  increasing  in  complexity  until  the  student  is 
able  to  read  any  miscellaneous  text  in  the  foreign  language. 
The  first  contention  of  the  method  —  that  words  should  be 
associated  with  objects  —  is  to  be  viewed  most  critically, 

1  For  a  full  discussion  of  this  method  see  articles  by  K.  Kron  in  Die 
neueren  Sprachen,  Vol.  Ill,  1896.  For  a  discussion  of  the  first  character- 
istic, see  especially  p.  10 ;  the  second  is  also  fully  illustrated. 


FOKEIGN  LANGUAGES  227 

especially  in  the  form  in  which  it  is  commonly  presented. 
The  principle  of  sentence  study  and  serial  progression  is 
in  keeping  with  the  best  tendencies  of  recent  educational 
methodology. 

IMAGERY 

In  discussing  the  requirement  of  the  psychological 
method,  that  objects  or  images  be  associated  with  words, 
the  Committee  of  Twelve  makes  the  following  statement: 

On  presenting  each  new  word  to  the  beginner,  the  instructor 
exhorts  him  to  close  his  eyes  and  form  a  distinct  mental  pic- 
ture of  the  thing  or  act  represented.  This  image  (it  is  affirmed) 
will  remain  indissolubly  connected  with  the  word,  and  the  evo- 
cation of  the  one  will  always  recall  the  other.  Sometimes  real 
objects  or  drawings  are  used,  and  pantomime  is  frequently 
resorted  to ;  but  in  most  cases  reliance  is  placed  on  the  child's 
active  imagination. 

DIRECT  SENSORY  AND  MOTOR  PROCESSES 

One  of  the  recent  writers l  says : 

Another  cardinal  doctrine  of  the  reformers  is  the  belief  that 
the  more  direct  the  connection  established  between  the  thing 
and  its  name,  the  more  direct  the  association  between  an  idea 
and  its  expression,  the  more  permanent  and  effective  it  will 
be.  ...  Pantomime,  gesture,  bodily  movement,  impressions 
made  by  concrete  objects  upon  the  various  senses,  all  sorts*  of 
devices  are  employed  to  enable  the  instructor  to  dispense  with 
the  vernacular.  (Pp.  476,  477.) 

The  use  of  Realien  constitutes  a  valuable  adjunct  to  this 
method  of  instruction.  In  addition  to  the  well-known  and 
widely  used  pictures  of  the  seasons  by  Hoelzel,  upon  which 
conversation  may  be  based,  whatever  tends  to  throw  light  upon 
the  material  and  spiritual  life  of  the  nation  whose  language  is 
being  studied  receives  a  hearty  welcome.  (Pp.  478,  479.) 

1  A.  Gideon,  The  Phonetic  Method  of  Teaching  Foreign  Languages, 
School  Review,  1909,  Vol.  XVII,  pp.  476-480. 


228     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

In  the  latter  part  of  this  article  the  author  argues  that 
because  brain  physiology  has  shown  that  several  different 
centers,  especially  those  of  hearing  and  vision,  are  involved 
in  the  cerebral  processes  connected  with  speech  that  it  is  de- 
sirable to  arouse  to  action,  in  the  course  of  language  study, 
as  many  of  these  centers  as  possible. 

A  like  discussion  is  to  be  found  in  an  article  published 
in  Science.1 

Physiological  psychology  teaches  us  that  four  distinct  centers 
of  the  brain  are  active  in  the  acquisition  of  language ;  namely : 
the  auditory,  the  visual,  the  motor  writing,  and  the  motor  speech 
centers,  the  first  two  sensory,  the  latter  two  motor.  The  function 
of  the  auditory  center  is  to  receive  sensory  impressions  through 
the  nerves  of  the  ear ;  that  of  the  visual  center  to  receive  im- 
pressions from  the  nerves  of  the  eye ;  the  motor-writing  center 
controls  the  muscles  of  the  hand  in  writing,  while  the  motor 
speech  center  controls  the  muscles  of  the  speech  organs.  .  .  . 

Without  going  into  the  old  question  whether  sensation  is 
the  sole  principle  of  knowledge,  we  are  on  safe  ground  psycho- 
logically when  we  assert  that  in  learning  a  language  auditory, 
visual  and  kinesthetic  sensations  play  the  most -important  role, 
and  are  in  fact  the  basis  of  knowledge.  It  follows  then  that 
the  greater  the  number  of  sensory  impressions  that  can  be  en- 
listed in  the  acquisition  of  language,  the  greater  the  acquisition. 
It  follows  also  that  the  more  combined  the  activity  of  the  senses, 
the  more  rapid  and  the  more  thorough  will  be  the  organization 
of  the  speech  centers  physically  and  psychically.  .  .  . 

Thus  the  argument  which  is  often  used  against  the  analytical 
or  direct  method  that  adults  do  not  learn  language  like  children 
do  loses  much  of  its  force.  Certain  it  is  that  for  adults  the 
idea  comes  before  the  sign  for  the  idea,  although,  to  be  sure, 
the  mature  mind,  accustomed  to  abstract  thinking,  soon  de- 
mands that  it  be  given  not  only  the  percepts  but  the  concepts, 
and  the  general  concepts  as  well. 

Good  pedagogy  should  call  into  activity  all  the  powers  of 
the  mind  of  the  learner.  Thus  in  the  case  of  the  language 

i  April  18,  1913,  Vol.  XXXVII,  p.  600. 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  229 

teacher,  to  utilize  the  visual  and  the  graphic  centers  only,  and 
allow  the  auditory  and  the  motor  speech  centers  to  lie  barren, 
is  to  get  only  a  portion  of  the  sensory  impression  that  may  be 
got  if  all  the  centers  are  utilized. 

Again,  since  some  individuals  of  a  group  will  learn  better 
Iby  the  utilization  of  the  visual  and  the  graphic  centers,  others 
'by  the  utilization  of  the  auditory  and  the  motor-speech  centers,  • 
etc.,  every  course  in  language  should  give  opportunity  for  both 
forms  of  impression  and  both  forms  of  expression,  that  is,  for 
hearing,  and  seeing  (reading) ;  for  speaking  and  writing. 

Language  study  is  best  cultivated  by  utilizing  the  nerv- 
ous energy  of  all  four  centers,  that  is,  the  ear,  the  eye,  the 
vocal  organs  and  the  hand.  Each  must  support  the  other,  thus 
heightening  the  total  impression. 

Generalizations,  in  this  case  principles  and  laws,  must  base 
upon  sense  perceptions,  in  this  case  spoken  or  written  words 
and  phrases,  and  must  follow,  not  precede  them. 

Finally,  an  example  may  be  quoted  from  the  notes  taken 
at  the  conference  at  Sorbonne  by  Charles  Schweitzer.1 

Take,  for  example,  the  word  "  apple."  In  learning  his  native 
tongue  the  French  child  sees  the  fruit  placed  before  him  on  the 
table  or  suspended  from  the  tree.  At  the  same  time  some  one 
pronounces  to  him  the  word  "  apple  "  and  accompanies  the  pro- 
nunciation of  this  word  by  a  gesture.  After  the  experience 
has  been  repeated  several  times  an  indissoluble  association  is 
formed  between  the  two  percepts,  one  a  visual  percept  and  the 
other  an  auditory  percept.  An  equation  is  set  up  in  the  mind 
of  the  child  between  the  word  "  apple  "  and  the  image  of  an 
apple.  The  two  members  of  this  equation  form  so  intimate  an 
association  that  the  image  of  the  object  will  invariably  call 
up  the  word  and  that  which  the  word  was  intended  to  intro- 
duce, namely,  the  image  of  the  object. 

1  Methodologie  des  Langues  Vivantes,  p.  7.  Librairie  Armand  Colin, 
1903. 


230     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

CRITICISM  OF  "IMAGERY"  AND  "SENSATION"  DOCTRINES 

These  quotations  show  how  much  emphasis  the  psycho- 
logical method  has  laid  upon  the  images  which  reproduce 
sensations  and  which  all  learners  are  supposed  to  form  of  ob- 
jects when  they  begin  to  acquire  the  words  of  a  language. 
Enough  has  been  said  in  an  earlier  discussion  of  the  nature 
of  language  to  make  it  clear  that  this  conception  which  lays 
stress  upon  the  images  associated  with  words  is  true  only 
in  a  very  limited  way,  if,  indeed,  it  is  true  at  all.  Doubtless 
the  mind  does  carry  certain  images  of  the  objects  for 
which  we  have  names  in  mature  life,  but  these  images  are 
very  vague  and  very  general.  Let  one  test  himself,  for  ex- 
ample, to  see  how  exact  and  complete  is  bis  image  related 
to  any  object  which  he  may  know  by  name.  For  example, 
suppose  one  hears  the  word  "  animal "  or  the  word  "  verte- 
brate "  and  asks  himself  how  fully  these  familiar  words  are 
paralleled  in  his  experience  by  images  that  could  be  sub- 
jected to  any  careful  analysis.  If  our  adult  images  are  vague 
and  indefinite  even  in  a  field  where  popular  science  has  done 
inuch  to  make  ideas  clear,  it  is  much  more  the  case  that  a 
child's  images  are  vague  and  indefinite.  One  has  only  to 
observe  a  child  in  the  early  stages  of  his  acquisition  of 
language  to  realize"  the  truth  of  this  statement.  He  uses 
words  in  a  broad,  general  way.  For  example,  any  sort  of 
liquid  will  be  called  "  water,"  not  because  the  word  calls 
up  any  definite  idea  of  a  particular  substance  but  rather 
because  all  of  the  various  substances  are  enough  alike  to 
fit  into  his  loose,  general  imagery.  In  the  same  fashion, 
the  word  "  horse  "  is  not  used  by  the  child  in  any  sharply 
defined  way  so  as  to  distinguish  one  of  the  larger  animals 
from  the  rest,  which  resemble  it  in  gross  outline ;  the  child 
uses  the  word  to  refer  to  any  large  object,  even  applying 
it  to  his  playthings  which  have  no  sensory  likeness  to  the 
animal  at  all. 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  231 

The  evidence  from  the  study  of  the  child's  vocabulary 
is  reenforced  by  a  study  of  his  efforts  to  reproduce  im- 
ages. The  moment  he  begins  to  draw  he  exhibits  vvdth 
perfect  clearness  the  fact  that  his  images  are  not  sharp  and 
definite ;  they  are  vague  and  symbolic  —  that  is,  a  few 
irregular  lines  stand  in  his  mind  for  some  object  such  as 
man  or  animal,  and  there  is  no  possibility,  until  his  mental 
development  has  gone  much  further,  of  his  refining  these 
crude  images  so  as  to  make  them  resemble  at  all  closely 
the  objects  for  which  they  stand  in  his  thinking.  The  child's 
mental  attitudes  toward  the  world  are  dominated  by  his 
own  personal  feelings  and  by  his  own  attitudes  of  reactions 
toward  the  world.  He  likes  things  or  dislikes  them  with 
great  intensity.  He  does  not  make  any  careful  analysis  of 
their  form  or  external  characteristics.  What  is  true  of  his 
images  is  true  of  his  words.  These  words  are  significant 
to  him  not  because  they  are  associated  with  the  external 
characteristics  of  objects  such  as  the  form  and  color  of 
these  objects ;  they  are  significant  rather  because  they  call 
up  in  his  experience  certain  attitudes  of  mind  and  body 
which  he  has  learned  to  assume  toward  the  objects  which 
are  being  designated. 

REACTION  ESSENTIAL  TO  INTERPRETATION 

When,  therefore,  the  psychological  method  of  teaching 
foreign  languages  begins  to  lay  great  emphasis  upon  sensory 
aspects  of  language,  it  fails  to  in- 
clude the  most  essential  facts  in     Q  .   j iL 

the  situation.    Perhaps  this  can  be 

made  clear  by  the  use  of  a  series  of  simple  diagrams.  Let 
us  represent  an  external  object  as  it  impresses  the  indi- 
vidual by  the  letter  0.  The  letter  /  will  be  used  to  rep- 
resent the  individual  who  is  brought  in  contact  with  this 
object.  A  line  connecting  0  and  /  will  represent  the 


232     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

impression  which  is  produced  upon  the  individual  by  this 
external  object.  A  line  issuing  from  I  in  a  direction  oppo- 
site to  that  from  which  the  impression  came  represents  the 
reaction  of  the  individual  upon  the  object.  This  reaction 
may  be  an  emotional  reaction,  as  when  an  individual  is 
afraid  of  the  object  which  he  sees ;  or  it  may  be  a  reaction 
of  the  hand  and  arm,  as  when  an  individual  seeks  to  grasp 
the  object.  In  any  case  the  reaction  is  an  expression  of  the 
individual's  organization  rather  than  a  matter  of  impression 
from  the  object. 

The  little  child  gets  an  impression  from  the  object,  but 
this  is  by  no  means  the  important  part  of  the  whole  situa- 
tion from  the  psychological  point  of  view.  Much  more 
significant  is  the  reaction  which  issues  from  the  child.  At 
the  outset  these  reactions  on  the  part  of  the  child  are  few 
in  number  and  simple  in  character.  As  he  develops,  how- 
ever, there  come  to  be  a  great  variety  of  them,  among  which 
are  the  reactions  of  the  vocal  cords.  We  can  now  represent 
the  second  stage  of  our  psychological  analysis  by  showing 

that  the  impression  received 

*       by  the  child  may  issue  in  a 

^^^"  variety  of  different  forms  of 

Q T _    reaction.      These    are   repre- 

"^^.  sented  by  the  three  reaction 

~*  ~»         7?^       •  • 

"*  -r*      lines  that  issue  from  I.   These 

different  types  of  reaction  have 

more  or  less  connection  with  each  other.  The  result  is  that 
when  an  object  calls  for  one  form  of  reaction,  it  tends  at 
the  same  time  to  call  up  other  forms  of  reaction.  Certain 
cross  associations  begin  to  set  themselves  up  between  the 
different  types  of  reaction.  This  we  might  represent  by 
drawing  cross  lines  between  the  different  .K's  that  were 
indicated  in  the  second  diagram.  At  the  same  time  a  new 
type  of  impression  begins  to  act  upon  the  individual.  This 
is  the  auditory  impression  which  comes  to  h:*n  from  his  own 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  233 

reactions  of  articulation  and  from  the  words  which  are  pro- 
duced by  those  who  are  about  him.  We  may  set  down, 

therefore,  in  the  third  dia- 
gram two  incoming  sensory 
impressions ;  namely,  the 
original  type  of  impression 
0  and  the  new  type  of  im- 
—  —  ^  ^  £3  pression  W.  W,  in  turn,  gets 
its  meaning  not  merely  by 
virtue  of  the  fact  that  it 

is  connected  with  0,  but  more  from  the  fact  that  it  is  con- 
nected with  the  various  forms  of  reaction  which  constitute 
the  individual's  reaction  to 
0.    Indeed,  after  0  has  led 
to  the  organization  of  R\ 
-K2,  and  Rz,  these  may  at- 
tach directly  to  W,  as  when 

one  reacts  to  the  cry  of  danger  rather  than  to  the  sight  of 
a  dangerous  object.  The  interpretation  of  a  word  is  there- 
fore an  elaborate  product  of  development,  depending  quite 
as  much  upon  the  tfs  as  upon  0. 

In  their  emphasis  upon  objects,  the  natural  method  and 
the  psychological  method  lay  great  stress  on  the  connec- 
tion of  the  word  with  0,  but  they  overlook  the  importance 
of  all  of  the  R  elements  which  enter  into  the  interpretation 
of  words.  From  what  has  been  said  in  an  earlier  chapter 
which  deals  with  the  nature  of  language,  the  absurdity  of 
this  overemphasis  is  apparent. 

MANY  WORDS  INCAPABLE  OF  SENSORY  INTERPRETATION 

Furthermore,  one  might  derive  from  the  study  of  words 
much  evidence  in  support  of  the  general  psychological  con- 
clusion which  was  reached  in  the  earlier  chapter..  One  needs 
Very  little  contact  with  the  language  to  note  that  there 


234    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

are  many  words  for  which  it  is  quite  impossible  to  have 
any  images  whatsoever.  Prepositions,  for  example,  and 
connective  words  obviously  cannot  have  any  imagery  which 
could  be  made  the  basis  of  interpretation.  All  sorts  of 
abstract  words  fall  into  the  same  class.  It  should  be  noted 
that  there  is  no  denial  in  all  of  this  discussion  of  the 
presence  or  value  of  imagery  hi  certain  psychological  con- 
ditions ;  but  it  should  be  reiterated  here,  as  it  was  in  the 
chapter  on  the  nature  of  language,  that  very  often,  especially 
in  the  higher  forms  of  experience,  imagery  is  a  hindrance 
rather  than  a  support  to  thought.  Words  are  superior  to 
images  for  the  higher  thought-processes.  They  come  to  be 
substitutes  for  the  images  of  objects;  and  it  is  distinctly 
uneconomical  for  a  trained  individual  to  attempt  to  carry 
in  his  mind  any  long  train  of  images  —  it  is  much  simpler 
for  him  to  use  words  as  actual  substitutes  for  the  objects, 
and  to  depend  upon  his  trained  reactions  associated  with 
these  words  to  guide  him  in  his  thought,  rather  than  to  go 
back  to  the  primitive  forms  of  imagery  out  of  which  his 
interpretations  may,  in  some  cases,  have  originated. 

REACTIONS  REFINE  IMAGES 

Furthermore,  even  when  we  study  mental  imagery  it  can 
be  shown  that  reactions  are  more  important  than  impressions 
in  determining  the  character  of  the  memory  picture  which 
we  carry  away  from  the  -objects  about  us.  If  we  want  to 
know  the  details  of  form  in  an  object,  we  set  ourselves  the 
task  of  reproducing  it  in  a  drawing  or  by  carefully  tracing 
its  outlines  through  reactions.  Even  the  verbal  reactions 
can  be  described  as  our  most  potent  instruments  for  induc- 
ing and  supporting  analysis  of  images.  Consider,  for  ex- 
ample, the  fact  that  the  botanist  is  able  to  train  his  students 
in  the  observation  of  plants  through  the  development  of  a 
series  of  names  of  the  different  parts  of  the  plant.  'When 


FOKEIGN  LANGUAGES  235 

a  child  looks  at  a  plant,  before  he  has  had  any  scientific 
training  whatsoever,  he  sees  the  characteristics  only  in  a 
broad,  general  way.  There  is  no  practical  motive  for  a 
discrimination  of  the  different  parts.  There  is  no  reaction 
to  these  different  parts  which  would  tend  to  distinguish 
one  part  from  another.  For  purposes  of  scientific  study  a 
terminology  is  created  which  constitutes  a  kind  of  artificial 
reaction  to  the  different  parts  of  the  object.  The  individual 
is  now  equipped  with  the  motives  and  with  the  psychologi- 
cal devices  to  aid  him  in  his  discriminations.  He  reacts 
with  one  word  to  one  part  of  the  object,  and  with  an  en- 
tirely different  word  to  another  part  of  the  plant,  with  the 
result  that  he  recognizes  the  different  parts  of  the  plant 
and  gives  to  each  enough  attention  to  distinguish  it  in  the 
percept  and  in  the  memory  from  the  other  parts  which  are 
differently  named.  These  sharp  distinctions  of  science  may 
later  be  used  for  practical  purposes,  but  they  are  commonly 
cultivated  as  scientific  distinctions  before  practical  life 
takes  them  up  and  makes  use  of  them.  We  shall  have 
occasion  later  to  call  attention  to  the  difference  between 
the  motives  that  grow  out  of  verbal  discriminations  and 
the  motives  which  appear  in  practical  life  for  the  analysis 
and  discrimination  of  the  parts  of  objects.  For  our  present 
purposes  it  is  enough,  with  the  aid  of  this  example,  to  have 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  words  and  verbal  reactions 
are  among  the  important  means  employed  in  intellectual 
development  for  the  analysis  of  impressions  themselves. 
A  body  of  impressions  which  has  been  thus  analyzed  through 
the  use  of  discriminating  words  is  a  much  more  highly 
refined  experience  than  any  which  presents  itself  to  the 
mind  before  verbal  reactions  were  developed.  Furthermore, 
the  introduction  of  the  child  to  all  those  distinctions  which 
society  has  found  to  be  important  is  rendered  easy  through 
language.  Words  are  therefore  means  of  transmitting  dis- 
tinctions as  well  as  means  of  establishing  them. 


236    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

MATURE  DISCRIMINATIONS  DEPEND  ON  WORDS 

We  are  now  prepared  for  the  final  criticism  of  the  so- 
called  psychological  method  of  teaching  foreign  languages. 
The  most  important  characteristic  of  a  mature  mind  is  that 
its  discriminations  as  well  as  its  contents  are  determined 
in  great  measure  by  words.  Words  constitute  the  chief 
instruments  of  thought  and  of  reaction  upon  all  things. 
A  man  reacts  with  words  to  most  of  the  situations  of  life. 
Even  when  he  is  thinking  to  himself  he  uses  words.  If 
a  mature  person  tries  now  to  acquire  a  foreign  language, 
he  cannot  possibly  go  back  to  the  supposedly  primitive 
stage  when  impressions  are  the  chief  factors  in  building  up 
mental  life.  Impressions,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  never  were  of 
great  importance  as  compared  with  reactions,  but  certainly 
in  mature  life  sensations  sink  far  into  the  background. 
The  so-called  psychological  method  turns  out  to  be  quite 
unpsychological  in  the  analyses  of  mental  processes  which 
it  proposes. 

The  real  difficulty  here  is  like  that  which  was  discussed 
a  few  paragraphs  above  when  dealing  with  the  example  of 
pronunciation  as  employed  by  the  Committee  of  Twelve. 
The  mature  mind  has  a  fixed  system  of  verbal  reactions ; 
and  the  development  of  a  new  foreign  system  of  reactions 
is  difficult  just  in  the  degree  that  the  foreign  language 
involves  forms  of  reaction  not  present  in  the  vernacular. 

SPECIAL  DIFFICULTIES  IN  TEACHING  AMERICAN 
CHILDREN 

In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  people 
who  have  in  their  vernacular  a  highly  inflected  and  com- 
plex language  can  learn  a  simple  language  very  much  more 
readily  than  one  who  has  as  his  native  tongue  such  a  simple 
language  as  English. 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  23T 

FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  DEMAND  NEW  REACTIONS 

The  acquisition  of  a  foreign  language  for  a  mature  mind 
is  accordingly  a  process  of  fitting  new  word  impressions  and 
reactions  into  an  established  system  of  language  reactions. 
The  meaning  of  this  statement  can  be  made  clear  by  con- 
sidering the  following  facts.  There  are  certain  grammatical 
habits  peculiar  to  every  language.  This  difference  can  be 
illustrated  by  drawing  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  Latin 
and  German  it  is  perfectly  safe  to  place  the  object  of  a 
verb  before  the  subject  of  the  sentence.  In  both  of  these 
inflected  languages  the  accusative  case  shows  by  its  form 
that  it  is  the  object  of  a  verb.  In  English,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  student  must  give  heed  to  the  order  of  his  words 
and  is  always  dependent  upon  the  order  of  the  sentence 
for  the  discrimination  between  the  subject  and  the  object 
of  the  verb.  One  naturally  comes,  therefore,  in  the  English 
sentences  to  a  fixity  of  arrangement  which  is  unknown  to 
the  Latin  or  German  language.  Not  only  so,  but  the  forms 
of  inversion  within  the  subordinate  clauses  are  matters  of 
habit  of  thought  which  English-speaking  people  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  take  on.  When  one  transposes  the  verb  in  German, 
he  has  expressed  a  relationship  which  seems  very  natural 
in  the  thought  of  the  German,  but  has  to  be  laboriously 
acquired  by  an  English-speaking  person.  These  habits  of 
syntax  are  undoubtedly  important  if  one  is  to  speak  a  lan- 
guage. They  are  of  some  significance  if  one  is  to  understand 
a  language. 

Habits  of  syntax  are  eclipsed  in  importance  by  habits  of 
interpretation  induced  through  intimate  contact  with  words. 
There  is  no  exact  synonym  for  many  a  foreign  word.  Our 
own  language  has  developed  certain  shades  of  meaning, 
full  appreciation  of  which  can  be  cultivated  only  by  paying 
close  attention  to  all  the  different  contexts  in  which  Eng- 
lish words  appear.  The  foreign  word,  in  like  fashion,  has 


238     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

its  own  peculiar  significance ;  and  that  peculiar  significance 
will  be  learned  only  by  seeing  the  word  in  its  proper  con- 
text in  the  foreign  language.  The  most  striking  examples 
of  this  sort  appear  when  one  tries  to  understand  the  German 
attitude  toward  such  exclamations  as  are  very  common  in 
German  colloquial  speech  but,  when  translated,  constitute 
objectionable  profanity-  in  English.  The  German  is  con- 
stantly using  the  term  Gf-ott  where  the  literal  English  trans- 
lation would  be  offensive  and  inappropriate.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  German  uses  only  in  extreme  cases  such  a  word 
as  Donnerwetter.  When  we  try  to  translate  this  exclamation 
into  English  it  becomes  a  very  inoffensive  remark  on  the 
weather,  but  to  the  German  mind  it  is  a  form  of  vulgar 
and  offensive  profanity.  It  is  quite  impossible  to  convey 
the  meaning  of  these  different  exclamations  by  any  direct 
translation  from  one  language  into  another.  In  like  manner, 
the  reader  of  Latin  comedies  finds  himself,  in  his  efforts  to 
translate  Plautus  and  Terence,  in  exactly  the  same  situa- 
tion in  which  a  student  of  modern  French  finds  himself 
when  he  tries  to  translate  the  slang  of  French  colloquial 
speech.  One  is  justified  in  saying,  in  the  presence  of  these 
striking  examples,  that  a  language  can  never  be  translated. 
Again,  take  such  cases  as  the  following.  The  conception 
which  the  German  has  when  he  uses  such  a  common  verb 
as  machen  is  wholly  different  from  the  notion  which  the 
Englishman  has  when  he  uses  the  literal  translation  "  to 
make."  Mark  Twain  has  pointed  out  in  his  discussions  of 
the  German  language  this  peculiarity  of  the  Teutonic  mind 
in  connection  with  the  general  word  machen.  Perhaps  we 
can  find  a  suitable  English  parallel  in  the  colloquial  use 
of  the  word  "thing."  An  ordinary  American  uses  the  word 
"  thing "  to  refer  to  objects  in  the  external  world,  social 
situations,  mental  processes,  and  experiences ;  in  short,  he 
uses  it  on  all  occasions  when  he  wishes  to  get  a  word  that 
shall  refer  back  to  any  situation  which  has  been  described 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  239 

in  an  earlier  sentence.  "  I  meant  no  such  thing  "  is  a  good 
illustration  of  the  general  use  of  the  term.  Such  an  idiom  as 
this  is  almost  unintelligible  to  anyone  in  whose  language  the 
common  word  for  "  thing  "  holds  closer  to  the  substantive 
idea.  The  curious  mistakes  which  one  finds  when  foreigners 
try  to  use  some  of  the  most  common  idiomatic  phrases  can 
be  understood  when  we  recognize  the  fact  that  a  foreign 
word,  in  its  own  context,  has  legitimate  shades  of  meaning 
which  cannot  be  translated  into  another  tongue. 

MEANING  THROUGH  CONTEXT 

Such  considerations  as  these  are  in  the  minds  of  lan- 
guage teachers  when  they  emphasize  the  desirability  of 
using  only  foreign  words  in  the  foreign-language  class. 
The  foreign  word  then  gets  its  meaning  from  its  setting, 
we  are  told,  and  the  student  is  saved  the  confusion  of 
trying  to  translate.  The  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
translation  have  been  commented  on  above.  It  remains 
here  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  if  the  student  can- 
not be  thought  of  as  beginning  at  the  beginning  when  he 
meets  a  foreign  word,  the  chances  are  great  that  he  will 
fall  back  on  one  of  his  familiar  vernacular  reactions.  As 
in  the  case  of  pronunciation,  there  is  much  to  be  said  in 
favor  of  the  method  of  conscious  direction  of  the  learner's 
efforts  by  contrasting  foreign  words  with  vernacular  words. 
The  mature  high-school  student  can,  if  properly  directed, 
make  comparisons  which  will  be  productive.  Why  not  give 
him  some  of  the  advantages  of  an  analytical  study  of  the 
foreign  word  in  contrast  with  the  vernacular  ? 

GRADED  EXERCISES 

The  other  alternative  is  to  make  a  very  gradual  entrance 
into  the  language  through  a  series  of  carefully  prepared 
exercises.  This  was  the  second  aim  of  the  psychological 


240     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

method.  The  method,  as  worked  out  especially  by  Gouin, 
gradually  builds  up  a  vocabulary  by  taking  a  few  simple 
words  and  carrying  the  student  step  by  step  through  com- 
binations of  these  words  and  more  elaborate  combinations  of 
simpler  words  to  a  final  mastery  of  the  foreign  vocabulary. 
This  gradual  method  of  procedure  gives  the  student  a  certain 
confidence  and  a  certain  ability  to  interpret  the  whole  idea 
that  is  expressed  in  the  sentence,  as  distinguished  from  the 
partial  idea  that  comes  from  an  isolated  word.  The  psycho- 
logical study  of  language  has  made  it  perfectly  clear  that 
the  unit  of  all  language  consciousness  is  the  sentence  rather 
than  the  isolated  word.  A  sentence  conveys  a  fully  rounded 
series  of  experiences.  The  psychological  method  undoubt- 
edly does  well  to  take  advantage  of  the  possibility  of  giving 
the  student  in  foreign  language,  as  well  as  in  his  vernacular, 
a  whole  sentence  rather  than  a  part  of  the  sentence. 

No  elaborate  argument  needs  to  be  presented  in  support 
of  the  effort  which  the  psychological  method  has  made  to 
grade  its  sentences.  If  the  sentences  can  be  so  worked  out 
that  the  student  can  interpret  the  new  words  from  the  con- 
text, the  interpretation  will  be  exact  in  character  and  will, 
at  the  same  time,  serve  to  make  the  student  independent 
in  his  later  interpretations  of  new  words  and  new  sentences. 

THE  DIRECT  METHOD 

This  method  of  gradually  inducting  the  student  into  the 
language  has  also  been  called  the  direct  method.  Great  en- 
thusiasm has  of  late  been  expressed  for  the  direct  method  both 
among  teachers  of  modern  languages  and  among  teachers  of 
classics.  The  following  quotation  from  W.  H.  D.  Rouse 1 
illustrates  how  far  some  teachers  are  willing  to  go  in  praise 
of  the  direct  method. 

1  Preface  to  "  Decem  Fabulae  Pueris  Puellisque  Agendae."  Claren- 
don Press,  Oxford,  1912. 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  241 

It  is  fortunately  no  longer  needful  to  defend  the  direct 
method  of  teaching  languages,  no  one  whose  opinion  is  based 
on  knowledge  now  attacks  it,  so  long  as  the  languages  to  be 
taught  are  modern.  But  there  was  a  time  not  so  long  ago, 
when  the  method  was  derided  as  foolish  or  slovenly  by  those 
who  had  not  tried  it ;  and  this  is  the  case  now  with  the  direct 
method  of  teaching  Latin  and  Greek.  Those  who  have  tried  it, 
so  far  as  my  knowledge  goes,  are  quite  at  ease  in  their  minds ; 
they  have  found  not  only  that  it  is  quicker  and  more  attrac- 
tive, but  that  it  does  really  what  the  exercise-book  method 
pretends  to  do,  that  is,  it  holds  the  attention  in  detail,  disci- 
plines the  mental  faculties,  and  enables  the  scholars  to  under- 
stand and  to  appreciate  the  best  qualities  in  the  best  literature. 

Of  course,  the  direct  method  is  not  all  talking ;  the  system 
includes  reading,  writing,  and  even  the  conscious  learning  of 
grammar,  although  in  different  order  and  different  proportion 
to  that  of  the  exercise  books.  But  speech  does  take  in  it  the 
first  place. 

The  direct  method  has  been  vigorously  discussed  under 
a  variety  of  titles  in  recent  years.  It  is  sometimes  called 
the  reform  method ;  sometimes  it  is  designated  the  analyt- 
ical, inductive  method.  A  full  description  of  its  details 
can  be  found  in  a  pamphlet  by  Victor.1  Sometimes  the 
phonic  element  has  been  emphasized,  as  in  the  report  of 
the  Committee  of  Twelve. 


AIM  MUST  CONTROL  THE  METHOD  Otf  INSTRUCTION 

We  may  concentrate  attention  on  the  one  fundamental, 
psychological  question  which  comes  up  everywhere.  This 
fundamental,  psychological  problem  can  be  stated  in  this 

1  Der  Sprachunterricht  muss  umkehren  !  Bin  Beitrag  zur  Ueberbiir- 
dungs-frage  von  Quousque  Tandem.  Heilbronn,  Verlag  der  Gebriider 
Henninger,  1882.  A  summary  of  this  document  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Teachers  College  Record  referred  to  on  page  211,  Vol.  IV,  No.  3,  and  also 
in  the  reprint  "Teaching  of  Modern  Languages,"  by  Leopold  Bahlsen 
(translated  by  M.  B.  Evans).  Ginn  and  Company,  1905. 


242    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

form:  Should  foreign  languages  be  taught  by  a  method  which 
ignores,  as  far  as  possible,  the  acquired  grammatical  and  ver- 
bal habits  of  the  student,  or  should  the  contrast  between  the 
vernacular  and  the  foreign  language  be  consciously  brought 
out  and  made  an  important  part  of  the  study? 

The  writer  once  saw  an  experiment  in  teaching  which  puts 
the  issue  in  a  clear  light.  He  visited  a  school  in  a  rural 
district  where  a  clergyman  had  gathered  together  a  few  of 
the  children  of  the  community  who  had  taken  all  that  the 
district  school  could  offer,  and  was  attempting  to  give  them 
some  view  of  higher  subjects.  The  teacher,  who  was  him- 
self trained  in  Latin  and  Greek,  was  utilizing  a  few  Latin 
stories  to  teach  the  children  something  about  the  Roman 
language  and  the  derivation  of  English  words.  This  teacher 
was  not  attempting  to  give  a  Latin  course.  He  had  no 
grammar,  and  he  had  no  desire  to  make  the  students  ac- 
quainted with  Latin  literature  through  the  reading  of  Latin 
texts.  In  fact,  he  had  changed  the  pronunciation  which 
he  had  himself  cultivated  in  college,  and  was  utilizing  for 
purposes  of  training  the  children  an  English  pronunciation, 
which  helped  them  to  recognize  the  direct  relationship 
between  the  Latin  roots  and  the  familiar  English  words 
which  are  derived  from  these  roots. 

THE  INDUCTIVE  METHOD 

Another  example  which  illustrates  the  issue  is  seen  in  an 
experiment  which  was  undertaken  a  few  years  ago  in  the 
so-called  inductive  method.  The  method  never  proved  a 
general  success,  probably  because  it  sacrificed  the  language 
in  order  to  give  students  principles  about  language.  A 
brief  review  of  the  method  will  indicate  how  far  it  went 
in  analytical  studies  of  language.1 

1  Harper  and  Burgess,  Inductive  Latin  Primer,  Preface.  American 
Book  Company,  1891. 


FOREIGN  LANGUAGES  243 

A  sentence  of  the  original  text  is  placed  before  the  pupil. 
The  pronunciation  and  exact  translation  of  each  word  are 
furnished  him.  By  the  aid  which  the  teacher  gives  him  in 
advance,  and  with  the  help  given  in  the  book,  he  thoroughly 
masters  the  words  and  phrases  of  this  sentence.  His  knowledge 
is  tested  by  requiring  him  to  recite  or  write  the  Latin  sentence, 
with  only  the  translation  before  his  eye. 

In  connection  with  this  mastery  of  the  words  and  phrases  of 
the  sentence  assigned,  the  pupil  reads  and  digests  the  contents 
of  the  "  Notes  "  on  these  words.  This  study  accomplishes  two 
things :  first,  the  careful  examination  of  each  remark,  with  its 
application  to  the  work  in  hand,  aids  in  fixing  more  firmly 
in  mind  the  word  sought  to  be  mastered ;  second,  grammatical 
material  is  being  collected  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  work. 

The  "Text"  and  "Notes"  having  been  learned,  the  next  step 
is  one  of  a  more  general  character.  Out  of  the  material  which 
has  thus  far  been  mastered,  those  principles  which  are  of  most 
importance,  and  which  the  pupil  himself  will  be  most  likely  to 
recognize,  are  pointed  out  under  the  head  of  "  Observations." 
The  pupil  should  be  brought  to  see  these  principles  for  him- 
self before  reading  the  statement  of  them  in  the  "  Observations." 

The  words  of  the  sentence  are  now  separated  from  their  con- 
text and  placed  in  alphabetical  order.  Thus  separated,  they 
form  the  basis  of  additional  study. 

In  order  to  prevent  the  memorizing  of  the  Latin  text  with- 
out a  clear  idea  of  the  force  of  each  word,  to  impress  more 
firmly  on  the  mind  the  words  and  phrases  of  the  text,  and  to 
drill  the  pupil  in  prose  composition  —  "  Exercises,"  Latin  into 
English  and  English  into  Latin  are  given.  These  are  always 
based  upon  the  sentence  which  furnishes  the  basis  of  the 
"  Lesson." 

Once  more  the  leading  points  of  the  entire  lesson,  whether 
suggested  in  the  "  Notes,"  the  "  Observations,"  or  the  "  Vocab- 
ulary," come  up  for  consideration  under  the  head  of  "  Topics 
for  Study."  Upon  each  topic  the  student  is  expected  to  make 
a  statement  of  what  he  knows  (not  of  what  has  been  said  in 
the  book).  If  his  statement  is  not  sufficiently  full,  it  will  be 
criticized  by  the  class. 


244    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

From  this  outline  the  idea  of  the  method  will  be  apparent. 
It  proposes :  first,  to  gain  from  the  classic  text  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  some  of  the  facts  of  the  language ;  second,  to 
learn  from  these  facts  the  principles  which  they  illustrate,  and 
by  which  they  are  regulated ;  third,  to  apply  these  principles 
in  the  further  progress  of  the  work. 

This  method  is  reported  to  have  been  most  successful  in 
the  hands  of  skilled  teachers  in  giving  to  mature  students 
within  the  compass  of  a  few  exercises  some  knowledge 
of  the  language  and  much  knowledge  about  the  principles 
of  construction  and  interpretation. 

SPECIAL  ENDS  SERVED  BY  DIFFERENT  METHODS 

Our  psychological  analysis  makes  it  easy  to  understand 
the  school  situation  as  it  confronts  us  to-day.  Those  who 
would  teach  students  to  master  a  language  and  have  much 
time  for  instruction  tend  toward  the  direct  method.  Those 
who  are  interested  in  the  scientific  study  of  language  em- 
phasize analytical  discussions  and  are  skeptical  of  the  direct 
method.  Wherever  mature  students  are  involved,  the  direct 
method  tends  to  give  way  to  some  form  of  analytical  method. 
Analytical  methods  in  one  sphere,  as,  for  example,  in  pro- 
nunciation, are  at  times  combined  with  'direct  methods  in 
other  spheres,  as,  for  example,  in  the  interpretation  of  words. 
In  the  meantime,  teachers  of  English-speaking  children  do 
not  make  as  much  headway  with  language  instruction  as  do 
teachers  of  children  familiar  with  a  highly  inflected  language. 

On  the  administrative  side,  pressure  becomes  more  in- 
tense to  reduce  the  amount  of  time  given  to  language 
courses  and  to  increase  the  value  to  the  student  of  what 
he  takes  even  if  he  remains  in  the  course  only  one  year. 

Furthermore,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  we  are  con- 
fronted in  America  with  a  grave  problem  because  we  begin 
language  work  late,  that  is,  in  the  high  school  or  even  in. 


FOKEION  LANGUAGES  245 

the  college.  The  methods  appropriate  to  teaching  children 
in  their  early  years  are  radically  different  from  those  ap- 
propriate to  maturer  years.  Just  at  what  point  the  direct 
method  should  diminish  and  the  analytical  method  increase 
is  with  us  a  most  urgent  problem,  and,  unfortunately,  as 
yet  an  unsolved  problem.  While  this  problem  is  awaiting 
solution  we  are  all  much  in  the  position  of  the  Commit- 
tee of  Twelve.  We  praise  the  direct  method  and  follow 
the  analytical  method,  with  strong  leanings  toward  the 
grammatical  method. 

GENERAL  LANGUAGE  COURSE 

There  is  one  experiment  which  a  psychologist  may  ven- 
ture to  suggest  to  teachers  of  language.  Let  a  course  be 
prepared  that  shall  teach  much  about  language  structures 
through  an  analytical  study  of  some  foreign  language.  Let 
the  student  have  an  insight  into  the  rich  field  of  compar- 
ative philology  and  comparative  study  of  civilization.  Take 
some  of  the  time  n<^w  given  uselessly  to  English  composi- 
tion if  the  foreign-language  departments  are  unwilling  to 
contribute  the  time  for  such  a  course.  Let  such  a  course  be 
open  to  everyone  who  wants  to  know  in  a  year  what  Latin 
and  German  are.  When  this  course  has  been  tried,  note 
whether  students  do  not  begin  language  work  of  the  pres- 
ent type  more  enthusiastically. 

By  way  of  practical  administrative  suggestion  it  may  be 
legitimate  to  urge  that  some  of  the  instructional  energy 
which  is  being  rapidly  released  in  the  classical  departments 
be  turned  to  the  task  of  trying  this  experiment. 

Finally,  in  order  to  make  perfectly  clear  the  psychological 
conclusion  of  the  whole  matter,  let  it  be  explicitly  pointed 
out  that  there  is  no  single  best  method  of  teaching  foreign 
languages.  The  method  must  vary  with  the  purpose  and 
the  maturity  of  students. 


246     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

CLASS  OBSERVATION 

In  this  connection  the  writer  may  venture  to  add  two 
observations  made  in  the  classroom.  He  has  observed  classes 
struggling  to  get  a  meaning  of  a  foreign  word,  and  con- 
fused beyond  degree  because  of  the  teacher's  dogmatic  de- 
termination to  use  only  the  direct  method;  and  he  has  been 
persuaded  that  it  requires  more  than  ordinary  resourceful- 
ness and  more  command  of  the  language  than  most  teachers 
possess  to  adhere  at  all  times  to  the  strictest  form  of  the 
direct  method.  Second,  like  every  other  observer  of  lan- 
guage instruction,  he  has  seen  formal  analysis  carried  to 
such  limits  that  he  has  been  almost  persuaded  to  become 
a  convert  to  the  most  extreme  form  of  the  direct  method. 
'  If  one  could  gain  the  advantages  of  direct  use  of  the  lan- 
guage without  losing  the  virtues  of  analysis,  and  could  also 
get  some  of  the  quick  returns  of  intelligent  analytical  study 
as  a  foundation  for  later,  more  intimate  appreciation  of 
words  in  their  context,  he  would  in  a  measure  gain  the 
advantages  of  both  tendencies.  If  one  must  choose,  his 
choice  will  certainly  depend  on  general  social  conditions. 
Children  in  their  early  years  gain  little  from  analysis ; 
adults  gain  much.  Time  is  always  a  factor  which  must  be 
considered.  The  consideration  of  these  social  factors  sug- 
gests that  probably  there  is  truth  in  several  different  and 
apparently  opposing  statements  about  languages  and  lan- 
guage teaching.  We  may  therefore  close,  as  we  began,  with 
a  plea  for  careful,  discriminating,  impersonal  examination 
of  all  claims  and  methods  rather  than  a  partisan  dogmatism 
in  favor  of  any  single  solution  of  the  matter. 


CHAPTER  XI 

OPPOSITION  BETWEEN  THE  PRACTICAL  ARTS  AND 
LANGUAGE 

Thus  far  we  have  discussed  the  problems  which  relate 
to  the  teaching  of  mathematics  and  the  language  subjects. 
It  would  perhaps  be  most  natural  to  continue  the  discussion 
by  taking  up  those  branches  of  school  work  which  depend 
very  largely  upon  the  ability  to  use  books,  such  as  history 
and  certain  phases  of  science.  Language  is  not  merely  a 
subject  of  instruction  in  itself,  it  is  also  a  tool  employed 
in  the  study  of  other  subjects.  But  the  psychological  prob- 
lems which  confront  us  in  teaching  any  subject  which  de- 
pends upon  the  use  of  books  can  be  clearly  understood  only 
when  we  contrast  with  book  subjects  those  which  depend 
upon  the  cultivation  of  practical,  manual  skill. 

RISE  OF  NEW  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION 

There  is  at  the  present  time  a  growing  tendency  in  the 
secondary  course  to  recognize  the  importance  of  various 
kinds  of  training  which  are  wholly  at  variance,  so  far  as 
their  content  and  form  are  concerned,  with  the  academic 
traditions  of  earlier  years.  One  finds  in  the  technical  high 
school  of  to-day  an  equipment  for  shop  work  and  laboratory 
work  that  is  altogether  foreign  to  the  conception  of  educa- 
tion which  was  common  in  the  high  school  of  a  generation 
ago.  Agriculture  has  taken  a  major  place  hi  those  high 
schools  which  are  situated  in  rural  communities.  Much  of 
the  work  of  the  agricultural  high  schools  is  carried  on  in 

247 


248    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

the  field  in  a  fashion  utterly  unfamiliar  to  the  high-school 
teacher  at  the  close  of  the  last  century. 

The  introduction  of  these  new  subjects  has  been  hastened 
by  the  demand  of  the  industries  that  more  attention  be 
given  to  the  preparation  of  expert  laborers.  The  problem 
of  providing  for  boys  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age 
is  one  of  the  clearly  recognized  and  conspicuous  problems 
of  present-day  social  life.  While  the  urgency  of  the  situa- 
tion is  somewhat  less  for  girls,  there  is  nevertheless  a  clear 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  some  kind  of  training  must  be 
devised  for  girls  who  are  not  going  to  take  the  ordinary 
high-school  course. 

We  turn  away,  then,  from  the  discussion  of  language  and 
all  that  belongs  to  the  language  subjects,  for  the  purpose  of 
gaining  a  clearer  notion  of  the  mental  processes  which  attach 
to  these  newer  subjects.  We  shall  then  be  able  to  return  to 
the  analysis  of  science  and  history  with  a  better  preparation 
for  the  appreciation  of  their  place  in  the  course  of  study. 

MANUAL  TRAINING  AND  INDUSTRIAL  COURSES 

The  first  break  in  the  curriculum  which  carried  the  schools 
away  from  the  purely  academic  traditions  of  an  earlier  day 
was  in  the  direction  of  the  kind  of  training  specifically 
known  as  manual  training.  In  America  the  Centennial 
Exposition  in  Philadelphia  was  undoubtedly  important  in 
bringing  the  attention  of  American  educators  to  the  value 
of  this  sort  of  instruction  for  school  children.  For  a  number 
of  years  great  enthusiasm  was  exhibited  at  certain  centers. 
Very  shortly,  however,  objections  presented  themselves. 
Where  the  manual-training  courses  followed  rigidly  one  of 
the  set  systems,  these  courses  were  criticized  as  formal  and 
destructive  to  initiative.  On  the  other  hand,  when  no  sys- 
tem was  followed,  the  courses  were  criticized  as  loose  and 
unsystematic.  In  recent  years  it  has  become  the  fashion  in 


THE  PRACTICAL  ARTS  AND  LANGUAGE     249 

some  quarters  to  attack  manual  training  as  a  wholly  unsuc- 
cessful experiment.  It  is  said  to  be  neither  academic  nor 
practical.  Industrial  training  is  urged  as  the  true  method 
of  giving  skill  of  hand  and  equipment  for  real  life.  Fur- 
thermore, there  are  general  social  forces  pushing  in  the 
direction  of  industrial  education.  So  it  comes  that  as  we 
hear  less  of  manual  training  we  hear  more  of  industrial  arts. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  technical  industrial  arts 
are  at  the  present  moment  very  much  respected  by  modern 
society  and  by  those  school  officers'  who  wish  to  keep  the 
curriculum  abreast  with  the  demands  of  modern  life. 

Our  discussion  naturally  follows  both  of  these  lines  of 
development.  We  may  with  propriety  introduce  the  whole 
discussion  by  considering  the  psychological  claims  of  man- 
ual training  in  its  most  general  form.  We  shall  not  con- 
cern ourselves  in  this  general  discussion  with  any  of  the 
minor  disputes  which  have  arisen  within  the  camp  of  tech- 
nical teachers  themselves.  We  shall  use  the  term  "man- 
ual training"  to  include  any  of  the  forms  of  manual  work 
which  have  been  developed  in  recent  years  in  the  general, 
untechnical,  nonindustrial  courses  of  study.  We  shall  then 
take  up  briefly  the  mental  processes  which  are  developed  in 
the  course  of  the  cultivation  of  some  of  the  industrial  arts. 

It  may  be  well  to  point  out,  before  entering  upon  the 
details  of  these  various  discussions,  that  it  is  not  in  place 
here  to  canvass  all  of  the  considerations  that  arise  in  con- 
nection with  these  different  subjects.  Our  business  is  merely 
to  make  a  psychological  analysis  of  these  different  forms 
of  training.  The  social  conditions  which  call  for  more  or 
less  emphasis  on  one  or  the  other  of  the  practical  forms  of 
training  we  cannot  with  propriety  take  up.  We  shall  have 
occasion  repeatedly  to  refer  to  the  fact  that  the  strictly 
educational  questions  which  arise  in  the  effort  to  introduce 
these  subjects  into  the  course  of  study  are  very  much  com- 
plicated by  social  conditions.  For  example,  there  is  the  fact 


250     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

that  specialists  in  the  technical  arts  have  felt  themselves 
for  a  long  time  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  teaching  pro- 
fession by  a  prejudice  against  the  manual  arts.  As  one  of 
the  chief  exponents  of  these  arts  has  pointed  out : 1 

WOODWARD  ON  THE  DIFFICULTIES  OF  INTRODUCING 
MANUAL  TRAINING 

The  traditions  are  heavily  against  us,  but  the  traditions  of 
the  fathers  must  yield  to  the  new  dispensation.  As  was  to 
have  been  expected,  the  strongest  prejudices  against  this  re- 
form exist  in  old  educational  centers.  .  .  .  The  idea  of  giving 
heed  to  the  demands  of  skilled  labor,  of  preparing  for  lives  of 
activity  and  usefulness ;  the  idea  of  earning  one's  daily  bread 
and  of  supporting  one's  family  —  scarcely  enters  their  heads. 
...  In  such  an  atmosphere  as  that,  how  incongruous  is  the  ap- 
peal of  minds  for  an  education  to  things  ;  for  a  training  of  the 
hand  and  eye  as  well  as  the  intellect  to  lives  of  useful  employ- 
ment !  .  .  .  The '  highly  cultivated  would  soar  away  into  purer 
air  and  nobler  spheres.  There  is  a  feeling,  more  or  less  clearly 
expressed,  that  the  material  world  is  gross  and  unrefined ;  that 
soiled  hands  are  a  reproach;  that  the  garb  of  a  mechanic 
necessarily  clothes  a  person  of  sordid  tastes-  and  low  desires. 

There  can  be  no  denying  that  this  sort  of  prejudice  exists 
in  many  quarters.  To  be  sure,  it  is  breaking  down  very 
rapidly.  Again  and  again,  however,  one  must  listen  to  the 
charge  made  by  one's  own  colleagues  in  the  educational 
profession  that  the  educational  world  is  not  only  preju- 
diced against  the  practical  arts,  but  is  wholly  unable  to 
sympathize  with  their  introduction  into  the  school.  In  a 
recent  discussion  the  Commissioner  of  Education2  of  the 
State  of  Massachusetts  made  the  following  statements : 

1  C.M.  Woodward,  The  Manual  Training  School,  pp.  190  ff.  D.C.  Heath 
&  Co.,  1887. 

2  David  Snedden,  "  Summation,"  Bulletin  No.  IS,  Proceedings  of  the 
Seventh  Annual  Meeting  of  the  National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of 
Industrial  Education,  pp.  65, 67.  Manual  Arts  Press,  Peoria,  Illinois,  1914. 


THE  PRACTICAL  ARTS  AND  LANGUAGE     251 

SNEDDEN  ON  VOCATIONAL  COURSES 

Ancient  division  exists  between  so-called  cultural  education 
and  the  practical  affairs  of  life.  The  schoolmaster  has  kept  his 
pupils  as  long  as  possible  from  submergence  in  utilitarian  activi- 
ties. He  has  often  had  a  contempt  for  the  manual  occupations. 
He  has  looked  with  favor  upon  professional  callings  and  others 
involving  the  maximum  of  intellectual  activity.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  practical  man  has  always  looked  upon  the  school- 
master as  somewhat  over-refined,  effeminate  and  impractical, 
with  a  disposition  to  follow  visions.  .  .  . 

With  reference  to  these  issues,  my  experience  has  been  that 
the  inherited  antagonism  between  cultural  and  vocational  edu- 
cation has  by  no  means  disappeared,  and  that  to  an  extent  as 
yet  unrealized  the  educator  not  only  holds  to  traditional  views, 
but  is  constitutionally  unable  in  many  cases  to  alter  his  atti- 
tude. It  seems  to  me  that  the  educational  literature  of  this 
country  contains  as  yet  surprisingly  few  statements  regarding 
either  the  desirability  or  the  feasibility  of  vocational  education 
that  exhibits  the  educator  as  a  profound  student  of  this  sub- 
ject. .  .  .  Undoubtedly  predisposed  desires  are  in  the  direction 
of  a  purely  intellectual  approach  to  problems  of  skill  as  well 
as  those  of  understanding. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL  STUDY  AN  ANTIDOTE  FOR 
DISAGREEMENT 

Even  more  vigorous  comments  upon  the  situation  than 
those  which  have  just  been  quoted  can  be  found  in  current 
educational  literature,  but  for  our  purposes  it  is  enough  to 
call  attention  to  the  fact  that  other  than  strictly  psycholog- 
ical considerations  are  operative  in  determining  the  entrance 
of  practical  courses  into  the  curriculum  of  the  high  school. 
Needless  to  say,  the  psychologist  has  no  sympathy  with  any 
of  these  prejudices.  His  one  problem  —  as  in  the  discussion 
of  the  various  methods  of  teaching  language  —  is  to  dis- 
cover, if  possible,  the  essential  character  of  the  mental  proc- 
esses which  are  aroused  by  the  practical  arts. 


CHAPTER  XII 

MANUAL  SKILL;  PRACTICAL  AND  THEORETICAL 
EXPERIENCE 

THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SKILL 

The  psychology  of  skill  is  a  chapter  in  the  psychology 
of  habit.  We  have  come  to  realize  in  studies  of  animal 
and  human  behavior  the  importance  of  habit.  The  nervous 
system  of  the  child  is,  at  the  beginning  of  life,  a  mass 
of  unrealized  possibilities.  A  visual  stimulus  entering  the 
brain  of  an  infant  may  come  out  in  the  form  of  a  cry  of 
surprise  or  fear ;  the  hand  may  move  in  the  effort  to  grasp 
the  bright  object  from  which  the  visual  stimulus  came; 
there  may  be  a  movement  of  the  head;  or  the  child  may 
begin  to  turn  away  with  his  whole  body.  Out  of  this  mass 
of  possibilities  comes,  in  the  course  of  life,  a  series  of  regular 
modes  of  response.  The  nervous  system,  which  was  charac- 
terized at  first  by  unlimited  possibilities  of  varying  response, 
is  organized  into  a  series  of  regular  channels  of  response  for 
each  familiar  stimulus.  Such  an  organization  of  the  nervous 
system  has  disadvantages  as  well  as  advantages.  The  man  of 
fifty  cannot  adjust  himself  to  new  situations  as  can  the  child, 
because  the  nervous  system  of  the  mature  man  has  been 
mapped  out  for  better  or  for  worse  into  a  system  of  paths. 
The  adult  has  his  habits  all  formed.  If  these  habits  are  of 
such  a  type  that  they  carry  him  through  life  comfortably  and 
successfully,  well  and  good ;  if  his  habits  are  such  that  he 
continually  does  the  wrong  thing,  he  must  suffer.  The  one 
major  fact  is  that  the  nervous  system  has  been  laid  out  into 
a  series  of  paths,  and  the  habits  of  life  are  formed. 

252 


MANUAL  SKILL  253 

Among  the  habits  cultivated  in  this  transition  from 
infancy  to  maturity  are  those  which  we  group  together 
under  the  general  term  "  skill."  One  shows  skill  when  he 
plays  tennis,  when  he  saws  a  board  or  drives  a  naiL  A 
girl  shows  skill  when  she  threads  a  needle  or  beats  an  egg. 
The  artisan  shows  skill  when  he  feeds  a  machine  or  sorts  out 
its  products.  In  all  these  cases  the  nervous  system  has  been 
organized  so  that  the  stimulus  which  comes  into  the  eye  or 
the  finger  passes  quickly  and  surely  to  the  hand  and  arouses 
an  act  which  through  long  repetition  has  come  to  have  a 
degree  of  precision  comparable  to  a  mechanical  process. 

CHARACTERISTIC  LACK  OF  ANALYSIS 

If  we  look  into  consciousness  during  the  performance  of 
an  act  which  has  developed  into  a  habit  we  shall  find  as 
one  of  its  most  conspicuous  characteristics  an  absence  of 
all  analysis.  The  consciousness  which  one  has  when  he  hits 
a  tennis  ball  or  a  nail  is  a  total,  undivided  experience  of  the 
whole  situation.  We  sometimes  speak  of  this  experience  as 
a  feeling.  One  has  a  feeling  that  he  has  done  the  act  well 
or  badly,  but  he  cannot  tell  either  how  he  did  it  or  how  the 
successive  steps  of  the  processes  took  place.  We  sometimes 
describe  the  situation  by  saying  that  one  does  the  act  with- 
out any  consciousness  at  all.  Thus  we  say  that  we  write 
without  any  consciousness  of  pencil  and  paper  or  the  form 
of  letters.  We  say  that  the  carpenter  adjusts  his  plane  to 
the  grain  of  the  wood  without  thinking.  Obviously  such 
descriptive  phrases  are  not  to  be  taken  literally.  The  person 
who  is  writing  would  be  very  promptly  aware  of  the  fact  if 
his  efforts  produced  no  marks.  This  is  evidence  enough 
that  he  is  not  unconscious  of  paper  and  pencil  and  black 
lines.  The  carpenter  knows  when  his  plane  is  properly 
driven  and  he  gets  satisfaction  out  of  the  shaving  which 
he  produces.  There  is  always  consciousness  accompanying 


254     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

an  habitual  act,  but  it  is  not  analytical  consciousness.  One 
does  not  think  of  details ;  one  sees  the  situation  as  a  whole. 
If  questions  are  asked  referring  to  some  particular  part  of 
the  situation,  the  reactor  is  at  a  loss  to  disentangle  this  part 
of  the  situation  from  the  whole. 

For  the  sake  of  a  scientific  study  of  habit  the  psycholo- 
gist must  make  an  analysis  which  the  reactor  himself  does 
not  make.  Let  us  consider,  therefore,  the  factors  of  a  habit, 
taking  our  stand  outside  of  the  reactor  and  looking  at  him 
for  the  moment  not  as  a  conscious  being  but  as  a  complex 
machine.  Later  we  shall  come  back  to  a  consideration  of 
the  inner,  conscious  characteristics  of  this  same  individual. 

SENSORY  "  CONTROLS  "  IN  HANDWRITING 

Since  writing  is  one  of  the  most  common  types  of  skill 
with  which  the  school  has  to  deal,  and  since  it  has  been 
scientifically  analyzed,  let  us  note  some  of  the  elements  of 
the  writing  process.  We  are  guided  in  our  formation  of  let- 
ters in  large  measure  by  the  sensations  of  pressure1  which 
come  to  us  through  the  fingers  which  hold  the  pen.  Espe- 
cially is  this  true  with  regard  to  the  height  of  letters.  Let 
anyone  try  to  make  his  letters  twice  as  high  as  usual  and  he 
will  at  once  become  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  relations  of 
pencil  and  paper  are  such  that  the  pencil  at  the  top  of  the 
letter  tends  to  leave  the  paper.  The  old-fashioned  shading 
of  letters  showed  the  same  fact  in  another  way.  No  heavy 
shading  was  made  by  upward  strokes,  because  mechanically 
the  pen  rises  from  the  paper  in  upward  strokes.  The  down- 
ward strokes  were  the  heavy  strokes,  because  here  the  pen 
came  with  increasing  pressure  into  contact  with  the  paper. 
The  changes  in  pressure  which  thus  control  the  height  of 
our  letters  are  not  ordinarily  recognized  by  the  writer. 

1  F.  N.  Freeman  in  Monograph  Supplement  No.  34  of  the  Psychologi- 
cal Review,  1907,  p.  301. 


MANUAL  SKILL  255 

Little  children  are  more  dependent  than  are  adults  on  in- 
tense experiences  of  pressure.  They  break  the  points  of  pen 
and  pencil  because  they  press  too  hard  in  trying  to  secure 
intense  sensations.  The  pressure  sensations  help  them  and 
help  the  adult  in  guiding  movement.  We  speak  of  these 
sensations,  therefore,  as  "  controls  "  of  writing,  because  as 
soon  as  the  pressure  at  the  top  of  a  letter  gets  light  the 
skillful  writer  is  controlled  in  his  movement  and  turns 
back.  In  like  manner  he  is  controlled  at  the  bottom  of  his 
letter  by  the  increasing  pressure. 

TACTUAL  CONTROLS  IN  THE  USE  OF  TOOLS 

Every  habitual  act  is  governed  by  certain  sensory  con- 
trols. Each  tool  in  the  manual-training  shop  has  its  partic- 
ular system  of  controls.  Take,  for  example,  the  saw.  When 
one  drives  the  saw  forward,  it  should  engage  the  wood  vig- 
orously, just  as  the  pen  makes  naturally  a  heavy  downward 
stroke.  When  the  saw  is  drawn  back  it  should  pass  lightly 
over  the  wood.  The  skillful  sawyer  makes  his  movements 
without  stopping  to  analyze  the  experience.  The  learner, 
on  the  other  hand,  has  to  pay  close  attention  in  order  to 
acquire  the  proper  adjustment  of  movements  and  sensa- 
tions. Furthermore,  the  expert  sawyer  is  instantly  respon- 
sive to  the  sensations  which  come  from  his  saw  if  the  line 
which  he  is  following  is  not  perfectly  straight.  Let  the 
saw  swerve  ever  so  little  and  the  skillful  workman  makes 
the  necessary  turn  of  his  hand.  He  knows,  further,  how 
to  adjust  his  stroke  to  different  kinds  of  material;  and  he 
knows  also  that  when  the  board  is  just  about  divided  he 
must  make  a  skillful  stroke  in  completing  the  cut  which 
the  novice  does  not  know  how  to  accomplish. 

Contrast  with  the  experiences  which  control  the  use 
of  the  saw  those  which  control  the  use  of  the  hammer. 
The  workman  very  frequently  gets  indispensable  aid  in 


256     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

controlling  the  hammer,  which  is  swung  with  the  right 
hand,  by  grasping  with  the  left  hand  the  nail  which  is  to 
be  driven.  The  guidance  of  the  hammer  depends  further 
on  the  sensations  received  from  the  handle.  These  in 
turn  are  determined  by  the  balance  of  the  head  on  the 
handle,  by  the  length  of  the  handle,  and  by  the.  way  in 
which  the  hand  grasps  the  handle.  Each  of  these  elements 
of  the  situation  contributes  to  the  experiences  of  pressure 
which  the  workman  gets  in  the  palm  of  his  hand  from  the 
handle.  Each  stroke  that  he  makes  is  guided  by  his  sensa- 
tions. But  he  does  not  analyze  the  situation  into  these 
elements.  He  thinks  of  it  as  a  whole.  He  becomes  accus- 
tomed to  his  hammer.  He  regards  it  as  a  misfortune  when 
he  breaks  the  handle,  because  the  nice  stroke  is  controlled 
by  the  familiar  relation  of  the  tool  to  his  arm  movement. 
Furthermore,  the  stroke  itself  is  a  complex  series  of  adjust- 
ments. The  skillful  workman  lets  the  hammer  bear  the 
shock  of  the  stroke  by  relaxing  the  hand  somewhat  just  at 
the  instant  of  impact.  The  novice  takes  the  stroke  in  his 
hand  because  he  grasps  the  handle  tightly..  Finally,  there 
is  the  precision  of  the  stroke.  The  novice  moves  irregu- 
larly, now  in  one  downward  line  and  now  in  another.  The 
skillful  workman  gauges  his  movements  from  the  first 
movement,  which  is  often  a  movement  away  from  the  nail 
to  be  hit,  and  thereafter  swings  the  hammer  with  unerr- 
ing precision  in  the  same  arc.  The  sensory  surfaces  of 
the  workman's  joints  are  involved  during  movement  and 
supplement  the  skin  of  the  hand  in  reporting  to  him  the 
slightest  deviation  from  the  true  course.  He  has  complete 
sensory  control  of  the  swing,  but  he  does  not  distinguish 
the  separate  sensory  controls. 

The  foregoing  analysis  of  tools  will  perhaps  be  clearer  if 
we  suggest  the  possibility  of  grouping  together  such  tools 
as  the  knife,  the  saw,  and  the  plane.  All  are  cutting  in- 
struments and  have  the  same  general  type  of  drive  forward 


MANUAL  SKILL  257 

and  relaxed  withdrawal.  All  must  govern  the  intensity  of 
the  stroke  by  the  texture  of  the  material.  All  have  second- 
ary adjustments  which  are  necessary  if  the  stroke  is  to  be 
kept  straight.  The  control  of  these  cutting  tools  is  of  a 
wholly  different  type  from  that  of  the  driving  tool.  Fur- 
thermore, certain  complex  adjustments  appear  in  the  dif- 
ferent methods  of  using  the  same  tool.  Is  a  chisel  a  cutting 
or  a  driving  instrument  ?  The  answer  to  such  a  question 
leads  us  into  the  discussion  of  the  chisel  driven  by  the  hand 
as  different  in  its  uses  from  the  chisel  driven  by  the  hammer. 
The  psychology  of  the  workshop  could  be  indefinitely 
extended.  We  have  a  psychology  of  play  ;  why  not  a  psy- 
chology of  the  industrial  arts  ?  The  delicacy  of  control  ex- 
hibited in  holding  a  billiard  cue  or  in  striking  a  golf  ball 
has  perhaps  been  more  fully  discussed  than  the  corre- 
sponding facts  in  the  lives  of  artisans,  because  the  player 
has  more  leisure  and  more  social  incentives  for  analysis 
than  has  the  workman. 

VISUAL  CONTROLS 

Up  to  this  point  the  sensory  controls  which  have  been 
discussed  are  those  which  come  through  the  sense  of  touch. 
Another  and  even  more  elaborate  discussion  might  be 
undertaken  of  visual  controls  in  sawing  and  hammering. 
Rather  than  duplicate  the  description  which  has  been  given 
of  touch  sensations,  however,  we  shall  leave  to  the  reader 
the  description  of  the  visual  controls  and  shall  turn  directly 
to  the  important  fact  that  in  many  cases  vision,  in  spite 
of  its  general  superiority,  is  not  as  useful  a  control  for  del- 
icate movements  as  is  touch.  For  example,  the  skill  which 
the  piano  player  acquires  through  a  tactual  recognition  of 
the  position  of  the  fingers  transcends  visual  control.  In 
like  fashion  the  skill  of  the  carpenter  who  can  saw  a  straight 
line  by  keeping  his  saw  straight  is  much  greater  than  that 


258    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

of  the  novice  who  must  look  at  the  line  and  follow  the 
seen  line  with  his  tool.  In  typewriting,  the  "touch"  method 
is  more  rapid  and  exact  than  the  mixed  method,  in  which 
vision  plays  a  part. 

OTHEK  SENSATIONS 

Another  contrast  which  has  been  suggested,  and  is  of 
importance,  is  the  contrast  between  sensations  which  come 
from  the  joints  and  inner  organs  and  those  which  come 
from  the  ends  of  the  fingers  and  skin.  The  typewriter 
who  knows  just  how  far  to  move  from  one  key  to  the  next 
and  the  piano  player  who  takes  three  notes  at  one  stroke 
by  the  nicest  spatial  adjustment  of  his  fingers  are  not 
controlled  by  the  skin  sensations  which  come  from  their 
contact  with  the  keys,  but  by  the  sensations  from  the  joints 
and  muscles  of  the  fingers  and  hand. 

ABSENCE  OF  ANALYSIS 

This  discussion  of  the  sensory  controls  which  are  present 
in  all  habits  leads  us  to  a  very  interesting  psychological 
problem.  Why  does  the  person  who  uses  all  these  sensory 
controls  fail  to  recognize  them  ?  The  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion has  already  been  suggested.  Consciousness  is  not  or- 
dinarily sufficiently  analytic  to  make  the  reactor  aware  of 
all  the  details.  The  reactor's  consciousness  deals  with  sit- 
uations in  the  gross.  Even  when  one  begins  to  be  analytic 
in  his  thought  he  is  not  likely  to  select  as  his  object  of 
attention  the  particular  sensation  which  guides  him  in  action. 

Let  us  consider  the  rise  of  any  particular  habit;  take, 
for  example,  the  bicycle-riding  habit.  When  one  first  gets 
on  a  bicycle,  there  is  a  great  mass  of  sensations  and  a  vivid 
consciousness  of  striving.  This  massive  experience  is  soon 
supplemented  by  more  experience  arising  from  contact  with 


MANUAL  SKILL  259 

the  ground  and  the  necessity  of  disentangling  one's  self 
from  the  capsized  object  of  attention.  Little  by  little  one 
gets  so  that  he  can  pick  out  from  this  mass  of  experience 
the  handlebars  and  the  road  ahead.  As  long  as  he  holds 
tightly  to  the  one  and  keeps  his  eyes  fixedly  on  the  other, 
matters  seem  to  improve.  The  tight  gripping  of  the  handle- 
bars gives  the  learner  warning,  through  the  sense  of  touch, 
of  the  slightest  turning  of  the  wheel,  and  thus  one  comes 
to  avoid  disaster  by  responding  to  these  early  danger  sig- 
nals. The  eyes  fixed  on  the  path  notify  one  of  a  change  in 
relation  of  the  body  to  the  plumb-line  and  also  deviations 
from  the  safe  line  of  progress.  The  learner's  consciousness 
will  not  exhibit  all  the  facts  with  equal  distinctness.  He 
will  see  in  the  center  and  focus  of  consciousness  the  road, 
and  then  more  road.  The  rest  of  the  content  of  conscious- 
ness will  be  a  vast,  unanalyzed  mass  of  what  we  call,  for 
want  of  a  better  term,  "  feeling."  This  so-called  feeling  is 
not  pleasure  or  displeasure ;  it  is  strain  and  tension.  The 
rider  is  stretching  every  nerve,  and  is  full  of  experience  but 
not  of  detailed  knowledge  of  his  acts.  A  week  later  the 
paths  in  the  nervous  system  will  be  organized  so  that  the 
movements  are  satisfactory,  but  there  will  be  no  knowledge 
on  the  learner's  part  of  the  details  of  his  adjustments. 
The  intimations  of  loss  of  equilibrium  which  come  through 
hand  and  eye  now  set  up  corrective  movements  without 
delay  and  without  fail.  The  road  has  expanded  into  the 
countryside,  and  our  rider  thinks  about  the  landscape. 
The  content  of  his  consciousness  is  what  he  sees;  and 
all  the  feelings  of  bodily  adjustment  combine  as  a  vague, 
undifferentiated  margin  of  experience.  Unless  some  new 
motive  arises,  he  will  never  bring  into  the  focus  of  thought 
the  sensations  of  pressure  from  the  handlebars  and  sensations 
of  bodily  movement  which  come  from  his  efforts  to  main- 
tain equilibrium.  He  has  achieved  a  result  without  study- 
ing the  process  of  his  achievement.  The  details  of  how  he 


260     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

reached  the  result  he  does  not  know,  for  they  were  in  his 
mind  only  a  vague,  massive  feeling.  The  more  perfect  his 
adjustment  the  less  motive. there  is  to  analyze  the  situation. 

ANALYSIS  SUPERIMPOSED  ON  HABIT 

One  motive  which  might  lead  a  bicycle  rider  to  analyze 
his  experience  would  be  the  necessity  of  teaching  someone 
else.  The  analysis  in  this  case  would  be  greatly  aided  by 
the  fact  that  one  could  watch  in  his  pupil  each  stage  of 
adjustment  from  the  outsider's  point  of  view.  The  expert 
rider  sees  the  learner  tipping  and  trying  to  recover  by  a 
sudden  jerk.  This  is  the  wrong  way  to  act.  What  is  the 
right  way?  Now  the  expert  realizes  that  he  moves  the 
front  wheel  in  the  direction  in  which  he  feels  the  bicycle 
tipping,  so  as  to  increase  the  breadth  of  his  supporting  base, 
and  gradually  recovers  equilibrium  by  a  slow  movement. 
The  whole  process  is  thus  reviewed  analytically  by  first 
being  looked  at  from  the  outside.  The  result  in  the  mind 
of  one  who  has  made  such  an  analysis  is  a  curious  mixture 
of  images  of  someone  else,  images  of  one's  self  as  though 
looked  at  from  the  outside,  and  sensations  of  tipping  and 
movements  of  recovery. 

Another  good  illustration  of  the  analytical  process  neces- 
sary to  understand  one's  skill  appears  when  one  tries  to 
teach  someone  to  hold  his  hands  as  he  should  to  perform 
some  manual  trick  involving  both  the  right  and  left  hands. 
One  can  move  his  own  hands  in  the  proper  succession,  but 
he  is  so  confused  by  trying  to  guide  the  other  person's 
hands  in  a  relation  which  always  presents  itself  in  vision 
in  the  reverse  that  analysis  is  almost  impossible. 

It  will  be  recognized  from  the  examples  which  have  been 
discussed  that  analysis  does  not  naturally  arise  in  the  course 
of  ordinary  experience.  One  must  get  a  new  point  of  view 
if  he  is  to  make  an  analysis.  If  he  does  not  deliberately 


MANUAL  SKILL  261 

place  himself  outside  of  the  ordinary  experience,  he  will 
tend  to  think  only  of  the  outlying  circumstances.  The 
most  striking  evidences  of  this  are  the  mistakes  which  peo- 
ple make  in  regard  to  their  performances.  Thus  the  un- 
trained workman  is  likely  to  think  the  wood  is  hard  rather 
than  to  recognize  that  his  tool  is  dull.  The  tired  bicycle 
rider  thinks  something  is  wrong  with  his  wheel  because  it  is 
so  hard  to  move  his  legs.  In  both  these  cases  the  analyses 
are  wrong  because  they  are  guided  by  accidental  prejudices. 
Consciousness  is  thus  seen  to  be,  in  many  cases,  an  unsafe 
guide  in  the  description  of  a  habit.  The  habit  may  depend 
on  certain  complexes  of  sensation  and  may  operate  under 
the  guidance  of  these  sensations,  while  analyses,  prompted 
by  other  motives,  may  follow  other  and  often  unsafe  lines. 

ADVANTAGES  OP  ANALYSIS 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  perfectly  clear  from  the  fore- 
going discussion  that  personal  habits  furnish  unlimited 
opportunities  for  the  exercise  of  analysis.  One  may  sub- 
stitute for  the  accidental  and  often  incorrect  analysis  of 
ordinary  life  true" and  well-directed  analysis  of  a  scientific 
type,  provided  he  directs  his  attention  to  the  experience  as 
a  real  problem.  Thus  the  boy  who  makes  a  careful  study 
of  the  construction  of  his  tool  before  he  begins  to  use  it 
will  have  his  attention  turned  inward  to  his  direct  experi- 
ences more  than  does  the  ordinary  individual.  Note  how 
the  teeth  of  a  saw  are  set ;  which  way  ought  it  to  cut  ? 
Note  that  one  side  of  a  chisel  is  beveled  and  the  other  is 
straight.  Note  that  one  may  take  hold  of  a  hammer  near 
the  head  or  far  away.  Each  of  the  analyses  will  help  a 
novice,  especially  if  the  teacher  has  worked  out  clearly  in 
his  own  experience  the  meaning  of  the  adjustments.  The 
analysis  makes  a  student  especially  sensitive  to  certain 
impressions  which  will  guide  him  in  his  activities.  Thus, 


262     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

following  the  example  suggested  a  moment  ago,  if  the 
student  realizes  that  one  side  of  a  chisel  has  a  different 
function  from  the  other  side,  he  will  be  prepared  to  take 
advantage  of  the  sensations  which  come  to  him  during  the 
use  of  the  tool.  If  he  did  not  make  the  preliminary  analysis, 
he  would  receive  from  the  total  situation  a  mass  of  impres- 
sions, and  this  mass  of  impressions  would  gradually  work 
itself  out  into  some  degree  of  skill  without  any  analysis. 

EDUCATION  AND  ANALYSIS 

Analysis  is  a  different  kind  of  mental  process  from  direct, 
habitual  contact.  Consider  the  beginner  who  has  made  an 
analysis  of  his  tool  and  observed  his  material.  In  the  first 
place,  his  analysis  usually  employs  a  different  set  of  sensa- 
tions from  those  which  control  his  acts.  He  uses  his  eye  in 
making  his  analysis.  His  sense  of  touch  is  the  one  which 
is  called  into  play  during  direct  action. 

The  union  of  preliminary  analysis  and  practical  adjust- 
ment is  accordingly  a  larger  experience  than  practical  ac- 
tivity taken  by  itself  or  visual  analysis  taken  by  itself.  This 
larger  experience,  which  includes  the  practical  contact  with 
the  object  and  also  the  preliminary  analysis,  has  certain  ad- 
vantages over  either  practical  adjustment  alone  or  analysis 
alone.  A  person  who  has  made  a  visual  analysis  appears  at 
times  to  be  in  a  position  to  concentrate  attention  upon  the 
various  aspects  of  the  tool  experience  which  he  would  not 
have  noticed  if  he  had  not  made  the  analysis.  This  leads 
at  times  to  precision  of  adjustment.  At  other  times  the 
effort  to  analyze  the  situation  seems  to  cause  distraction ; 
that  is,  if  one  tries  to  keep  in  mind  all  of  the  elements  of 
his  complex  experience,  he  may  find  that  he  is  distracted 
by  the  effort  to  include  so  much  in  his  consciousness.  It  is 
frequently  pointed  out  by  practical  teachers  that  one  must 
not  be  self-conscious  during  the  performance  of  the  act  itself. 


MANUAL  SKILL  263 

He  must  concentrate  his  whole  attention  upon  the  object 
with  which  he  is  dealing.  If  he  tries  to  think  of  his  own 
hand,  and  his  own  relation  to  the  tool,  and  the  relation  of 
the  tool  to  the  material,  he  may  get  into  so  elaborate  a  state 
of  consciousness  that  he  will  embarrass  himself  and  be 
hindered  in  what  would  otherwise  be  a  relatively  simple 
and  straightforward  performance. 

The  relating  of  practical  experience  and  analysis,  there- 
fore, constitutes  one  of  the  important  problems  of  educa- 
tional courses  in  the  manual  arts.  The  child  in  the  workshop 
must  not  be  self-conscious  about  his  acts  to  the  extent  of 
interfering  with  his  work.  Some  practical  teachers  are  so 
impressed  with  this  danger  of  distraction  that  they  prefer 
to  omit  all  possible  reference  to  the  analyses  that  seem  to 
them  to  be  too  theoretical  and  remote.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  must  be  recognized  in  many  cases  that  while  progress  is 
slower  under  these  distracting  conditions  of  analysis,  the 
ultimate  achievement  of  the  highest  skill  is  promoted  and 
the  efficiency  of  the  worker  increased.  When  there  is  no 
analysis,  habits  of  action  are  likely  to  become  fixed  early 
in  the  individual's  training.  On  the  other  hand,  where  one 
has  studied  the  relation  between  the  tool  and  the  material 
he  is  open  to  all  sorts  of  suggestions  for  change  in  method, 
and  these  suggestions  of  change  constitute  in  later  experi- 
ence a  very  great  advantage,  because  after  one  has  mastered 
the  total  complex  situation  and  has  learned  how  to  use  the 
tool,  and  has  at  the  same  time  learned  how  to  think  about 
its  use,  he  will  have  a  very  productive  line  of  comparison 
opened  up  before  him.  He  will  distinguish  between  his  own 
successful  and  unsuccessful  acts  and  will  note  what  are  the 
elements  ,of  highest  success.  He  will  know  how  to  borrow 
from  other  workers,  for  he  will  know  how  to  watch  them. 
In  short,  his  whole  activity  will  be  raised  to  a  high  level 
of  comparative  study. 


264    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

ANALYSIS  NECESSARY  IN  PROGRESSIVE  BEHAVIOR 

There  are  two  types  of  practical  workmen  in  every  trade. 
The  one  type  of  workman  has  acquired  practical  skill  and 
has  never  thought  about  the  way  in  which  his  skill  was 
acquired,  nor  has  he  thought  about  the  reasons  why  he  is 
skillful.  He  works  in  a  routine  fashion,  his  activities  be- 
coming more  and  more  solidified  in  the  direction  in  which 
he  started  by  accident  at  the  beginning  of  his  training.  His 
methods  become  more  and  more  fixed,  and  the  whole  atti- 
tude of  mind  comes  to  be  that  of  an  unquestioning  worker, 
relying  absolutely  on  the  habits  and  controls  which  he  has 
always  used.  The  other  class  of  workmen  will  always  be 
looking  for  possible  improvements  in  method,  and  they  will 
succeed  in  introducing  innovations  in  their  own  modes  of 
activity  which  will  be  economical,  or  at  least  will  be  tested 
with  reference  to  their  economy.  They  look  upon  every 
situation  as  an  object  of  interest  and  as  an  object  of  study. 
This  group  of  men  will  find  in  the  practical  arts  an  oppor- 
tunity for  continuous  mental  development. 

This  last  remark  brings  us  to  one  of  the  crucial  difficul- 
ties in  the  organization  of  practical  work  as  a  part  of  the 
school  curriculum.  If  one  goes  into  the  manual-training 
shop  and  cultivates  certain  habits  of  adjustment,  but  makes 
no  analysis  of  the  situations  in  which  he  works,  the  progress 
of  his  course  of  study  will  be  entirely  different  in  this  shop 
work  from  his  progress  in  any  other  field,  because  shop  work 
which  is  done  without  any  analysis  requires  less  and  less 
attention  to  the  act  itself.  We  express  this  fact  by  saying 
that  a  habit  requires  less  and  less  concentration  as  it  becomes 
more  fixed.  The  second  course  in  manual  training  to  such 
a  student  is  not  likely  to  be  any  more  instructive  than  was 
the  first.  Indeed,  we  may  describe  the  situation  as  it  fre- 
quently appears  in  manual-training  shops  by  saying  that 
there  is  no  progressive  enlargement  of  the  scope  of  work 


MANUAL  SKILL  265 

in  successive  courses.  The  student  might  just  as  well  have 
done  the  problems  which  he  encounters  in  the  second  and 
third  year  during  his  first  year  of  work.  He  becomes  merely 
a  more  fixed  and  established  artisan  without  becoming  more 
intelligent.  There  is  no  intellectual  progress  involved  in 
the  training.  On  the  other  hand,  academic  courses  usually 
show  a  very  distinct  line  of  increase  of  breadth  and  scope 
of  interest.  As  one  goes  forward  in  a  course  in  arithmetic 
to  a  course  in  algebra,  he  comes  on  new  topics  and  new 
interests.  If  he  can  be  shown  the  connection  between  these 
newer  interests  and  the  older  interests  with  which  he  has 
been  working,  he  will  himself  be  distinctly  aware  of  the 
intellectual  progress  of  the  work  from  stage  to  stage.  In 
the  same  way,  as  one  studies  a  foreign  language  he  becomes 
increasingly  conscious  of  the  wider  vocabulary  which  he 
accumulates  and  of  the  richer  mental  content  which  comes 
to  him  through  the  new  books  which  he  is  able  to  read. 
Progression  within  the  course  is  one  of  the  greatest  advan- 
tages that  the  older  and  more  highly  organized  subjects 
present  in  the  course  of  study.  If  manual  training  cannot 
in  some,  way  secure  the  same  type  of  progressive  interest, 
it  will  neve'r  commend  itself  as  a  school  subject.  This  criti- 
cism of  manual  training  cannot  be  met  by  simply  enlarging 
the  type  of  product  which  the  student  makes  in  the  later 
years  of  his  course.  One  finds  at  the  present  time  that  stu- 
dents in  the  second  year  are  supposed  to  be  stimulated  to 
continue  their  work  with  enthusiasm  and  interest  merely 
because  they  are  making  something  large  or  because  their 
interests  are  turned  to  considerations  outside  the  work  itself, 
such  as  the  idea  of  making  something  useful  in  the  home 
or  in  the  school.  Such  interest  is  foreign  to  the  training 
which  the  course  is  supposed  to  give  ;  and  unless  the  course 
itself  can  devise  some  means  of  keeping  alive  the  intellec- 
tual interests  of  the  students,  there  is  no  probability  that 
an  external  motive  will  save  it  from  formalism. 


266     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

EDUCATIONAL  VALUE  OF  MANUAL  ARTS 

The  lack  of  clearness  among  teachers  regarding  the 
purpose  of  manual  training,  and  regarding  the  best  form 
which  this  work  may  take  on,  is  reflected  in  a  controversy 
which  has  long  been  going  on  about  the  place  of  manual 
work  in  the  schools.  One  party  of  teachers  is  in  favor  of 
the  general  introduction  of  manual  training  into  all  schools, 
on  the  ground  that  there  is  a  unique  type  of  education 
which  can  be  derived  from  such  a  course.1 

These  educators  are  anxious  to  have  every  child  in  the 
school  required  to  take  such  a  course.  They  say  that  it  is 
well  even  for  the  boy  who  is  to  go  into  one  of  the  pro- 
fessions that  he  shall  get  into  the  shop  and  learn  the  use 
of  tools.  Sometimes  they  justify  this  position  in  detail  by 
saying  that  he  will  get  a  kind  of  experience  in  the  shop 
which  he  does  not  get  elsewhere.  He  will  learn  how  to  use 
his  hands,  and  he  will  get  a  direct  contact  with  nature 
which  he  can  acquire  through  no  other  means.  Again,  they 
sometimes  put  the  matter  in  the  form  of  an  argument  in 
favor  of  social  experience.2  They  say  that  it  is  well  for  the 
boy  who  is  going  into  a  profession  to  have  the*  same  kind 
of  experience  that  is  had  by  the  workers  who  deal  with 
material  things.  Such  a  boy  will  have  a  larger  appreciation 
of  the  functions  in  society  of  the  mason  and  the  stoneworker. 
He  will  have  a  larger  interest  in  the  manufacturing  processes 
with  which  he  will  come  into  indirect,  social  contact. 

This  group  of  teachers  who  are  strongly  in  favor  of 
courses  in  manual  training  is  opposed  by  two  groups  of 
critics.  The  first  group  say  that  manual  training  does  not 
cultivate  a  high  degree  of  skill.  The  conditions  of  work  in 

1  A.   McArthur,    Education   in   its   Relation   to   Manual    Industry. 
D.  Appleton  and  Company,  1895.    See  also  C.  M.  Woodward,  Manual 
Training  in  Education.    Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1898. 

2  G.  Kerschensteiner,  Education  for  Citizenship.    Rand  McNally  & 
Company,  1911. 


MANUAL  SKILL  267 

the  schools  are  not  enough  like  conditions  of  work  in  the 
shop.  There  is  too  much  spreading  of  the  worker's  energy 
over  loose,  general  activities.  Let  us  give  up  manual 
training  and  have  trade  training.1  Trade  training  will  be 
like  real  shop  work.  Get  a  good  workman  and  put  him  in 
charge.  Let  skill  be  cultivated  in  the  well-known  fashion 
in  which  apprentices  have  always  learned. 

The  other  group  of  critics  are  those  who  say  there  is  not 
enough  training  of  the  mind  in  a  shop  course.  There  is 
nothing  to  make  a  boy  think,  and  nothing  on  which  he  can 
be  examined  when  the  work  is  done. 

The  problems  suggested  by  these  various  contentions 
regarding  handwork  in  the  schools  never  called  more  ur- 
gently for  solution  than  in  this  day  and  age,  when  techni- 
cal schools  are  increasing  in  number  and  the  demand  for 
skilled  labor  is  being  vigorously  set  forth  by  practical  men 
in  the  business  world. 

THE  REACTION  OF  MANUAL  ARTS  ON  THE  INDIVIDUAL 

We  may  note  again  that  there  are  problems  suggested 
in  these  discussions  which  go  beyond  the  technical  courses 
themselves  and  relate  to  the  influence  of  the  technical  arts 
on  the  whole  life  and  thought  of  the  student.  How  far 
does  the  acquisition  of  skill  make  the  student  more  appreci- 
ative of  industry?  How  far  does  the  mastery  of  a  trade 
prepare  one  to  think  out  new  problems  of  a  practical  or  theo- 
retical type  ?  Conversely,  how  far  should  the  school  attempt 
to  maintain  its  traditional  program,  and  how  far  should  it 
give  up  language  subjects  for  the  practical  subjects? 

Some  of  these  questions  can  be  stated  in  a  concrete  form. 
Here  is  a  boy  who  has  made  a  table  in  the  manual-training 
shop.  He  knows  how  difficult  it  is  to  fit  together  the  parts. 

1  David  Snedden,  The  Problem  of  Vocational  Education,  pp.  43  ff. 
Houghton  Mifflin  Company  (Riverside  Educational  Monograph),  1910. 


268    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

Will  he  ever  look  at  a  table  again  without  considering  how 
well  or  how  badly  it  is  put  together  ?  Here  is  a  girl  who 
has  learned  to  sew.  Will  she  ever  lose  her  critical  insight 
into  the  quality  of  workmanship  exhibited  in  a  garment  ? 
Evidently  practical  skill  is  accompanied  by  the  cultivation 
of  insights  which  are  difficult  to  acquire  unless  one  has 
actually  constructed  a  typical  thing. 

We  are  told  also  that  shop  work  is  very  helpful  in  the 
training  of  students  because  each  piece  of  work  requires 
a  fidelity  to  the  materials  used  which  is  more  rigid  than 
the  fidelity  required  in  merely  reciting  a  verbal -recitation 
to  a  class  teacher.  One  may  give  an  ambiguous  answer,  but 
he  cannot  drive  an  ambiguous  nail.  This  demand  for  strict 
conformity  to  natural  law  is  said  to  be  very  good  for  students. 

EFFICIENCY  DEPENDS  ON  ADEQUACY  OF  INSTRUCTION 

The  striking  fact,  when  all  these  claims  have  been 
recorded,  is  that  manual  training  has  sometimes  failed  to 
justify  itself  as  a  school  subject,  while  in  other  cases  it  has 
served  a  most  useful  purpose.  Here,  as  in  other  subjects, 
it  is  evidently  no  inherent  characteristic  of  the  course  itself 
which  brings  advantage  to  the  student ;  advantage  appears 
or  fails  to  appear  because  of  the  mental  processes  which 
the  student  cultivates  during  the  course. 

Our  problem,  therefore,  is  not  to  accept  any  general 
statement  about  the  virtues  or  defects  of  manual  arts,  but 
to  study  their  mental  relations. 

EXPERIMENTS  ON  RELATION  OF  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE 

On  one  aspect  of  this  subject  we  have  much  evidence  of 
a  definite  type  to  which  we  now  turn.  We  have  experi- 
mental studies  which  show  certain  of  the  relations  between 
theory  and  practical  behavior.  In  such  a  study  it  is  easily 


MANUAL  SKILL  269 

possible  to  set  up  a  situation  in  which  some  practical  ac- 
tivity can  be  definitely  measured.  Into  this  practical  situa- 
tion we  then  inject  theory  at  a  time  and  under  conditions 
which  make  it  possible  to  measure  the  practical  activity 
again  and  discover  whether  the  injection  of  theory  has  aided 
or  hindered  in  the  perfection  of  the  activity.  Such  an  ex- 
perimental situation  as  this  was  set  up  by  requiring  two 
groups  of  boys  in  the  fifth  and  six  grades  to  hit  a  target 
under  water.  To  do  this,  when  the  target  is  looked  at 
obliquely  from  above,  is  a  task  requiring  some  readjustment 
of  the  boy's  ordinary  habit  of  throwing  a  dart,  because  the 
light  which  comes  from  the  target  is  refracted  as  it  leaves 
the  water  and,  as  a  result,  there  is  an  apparent  displacement 
of  the  target.  Furthermore,  the  amount  of  apparent  dis- 
placement will  differ  when  the  depth  of  the  water  is  changed. 
The  two  groups  of  boys  selected  for  the  experiment  were 
made  as  nearly  alike  as  possible  by  including  in  each  group 
some  boys  who  were  described  by  the  teachers  as  bright, 
some  who  were  described  by  the  teacher  as  slow,  and  a 
number  of  mediocres.  Such  educational  experiment  should 
always  be  tried  on  groups,  otherwise  results  will  be  obscured 
by  marked  individual  differences.  The  two  groups  were 
kept  entirely  apart  from  each  other  so  that  there  was  no 
possibility  of  a  disturbance  entering  into  the  experiments 
through  conference  between  the  two  groups.  The  one  group 
was  allowed  to  acquire  experience  without  any  instruction 
whatsoever.  They  were  simply  set  at  the  task  of  hitting 
the  target.  The  second  group  was  given  a  preliminary 
explanation  of  what  is  meant  by  refraction  and  how  the 
apparent  displacement  of  the  target  is  produced.  The  ex- 
planation thus  given  to  the  second  group  constituted  the 
only  distinguishing  characteristic  between  the  two  groups. 
It  may  therefore  be  said  that  one  group  had  the  theory  of 
the  situation,  while  the  other  had  no  theoretical  training. 


270     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

THEORY  NO  SUBSTITUTE  FOR  PRACTICE 

The  result  showed  that  the  two  groups  of  boys  required 
the  same  length  of  time  to  learn  how  to  hit  the  target  under 
water.  This  first  result  of  the  experiment  shows  with  per- 
fect clearness  that  one  cannot  substitute  theory  for  practical 
experience.  One  can  '  know  something  about  refraction, 
but  if  he  has  to  deal  with  it  he  must  learn  to  make  his 
readjustments  to  the  practical  situation  by  actual  readjust- 
ment of  his  movements,  and  this  actual  readjustment  of  his 
movements  apparently  will  take  place  at  a  no  more  rapid 
rate  than  it  does  for  any  intelligent  person  who  starts  out 
to  accomplish  the  practical  task.  In  terms  of  our  earlier 
discussion  it  may  be  said  that  the  theory  of  refraction  had 
to  do  with  the  visual  part  of  the  total  experience.  An  analy- 
sis of  the  visual  facts  could  not  be  carried  over  directly  into 
hand  movement,  hence  the  time  required  in  making  the 
hand  adjustment  was  not  reduced  through  a  preliminary 
analysis  of  the  visual  facts. 

THEORY  FACILITATES  ADAPTATION  TO  NEW  CONDITIONS 

After  both  groups  of  boys. had  thus  mastered  the  practi- 
cal situation  the  experiment  was  modified  by  changing  the 
depth  of  water.  This  change  in  the  depth  of  water  is  fol- 
lowed, of  course,  by  a  change  in  the  apparent  displacement 
of  the  target.  This  change  in  the  apparent  displacement  of 
the  target  turned  out  to  be  a  source  of  very  great  confusion 
to  the  boys  who  had  had  no  theoretical  training.  They  had 
learned  how  to  deal  with  one  situation  in  which  the  target 
was  under  water,  and  they  had  at  the  outset  of  the  ex- 
periment such  natural  experiences  as  any  boy  brings  to  a 
task  of  this  type,  but  the  new  situation  produced  by  chang- 
ing the  depth  of  the  water  did  not  correspond  to  either  of 
these  sets  of  experiences  which  they  had  mastered.  They 


MANUAL  SKILL  271 

consequently  oscillated  between  the  newly  acquired  expe- 
rience with  the  first  depth  of  water  and  the  earlier,  natural 
experience,  which  had  nothing  to  do  with  water  at  all. 
They  were  doubly  confused  in  their  efforts  to  master  the 
new  situation. 

The  psychology  of  this  confusion  is  the  same  as  that 
which  is  often  exhibited  in  practical  life.  Many  men  who 
are  called  upon  to  face  a  new  practical  situation  are  con- 
fused because  of  their  earlier  training  and  because  of  their 
fixed,  unanalyzed  modes  of  behavior.  It  is  a  well-known 
fact  in  the  trades  that  men  who  have  long  been  accustomed 
to  one  method  of  operation  are  very  much  confused  by  the 
introduction  of  new  methods,  such  as  new  machinery  or  a  new 
type  of  material.  Then1  very  training  prevents  them  from  ex- 
hibiting the  kind  of  flexibility  that  would  be  presented  by 
a  novice  unacquainted  with  earlier  methods  of  adjustment. 

As  contrasted  with  these  boys  who  had  no  theoretical 
training,  the  group  of  boys  who  knew  the  theory  of  refrac- 
tion presented  an  entirely  different  result.  These  boys  who 
knew  the  theory  of  the  situation  adapted  themselves  rapidly 
to  the  new  depth  of  water.  Their  ability  to  deal  with  the 
new  situation  grew  out  of  the  fact  that  this  new  situation 
was  recognized,  because  of  the  theory  which  they  studied,  in 
its  true  relation  to  their  earlier  experiences.  The  theory  had 
put  all  their  experiences  —  those  without  water,  those  with 
the  earlier  depth,  and  finally  those  with  the  new  depth  —  in 
a  single  scheme  of  thought.  They  were  aware  of  the  fact  that 
there  are  gradations  in  apparent  displacement,  and  when 
they  encountered  a  second  depth  of  water  they  felt  able  to 
deal  with  it  promptly  and  efficiently.  In  other  words,  after 
they  had  mastered  one  practical  situation  and  had  compre- 
hended it  in  the  light  of  their  theoretical  knowledge,  they 
were  able  to  take  up  rapidly  and  with  all  of  the  advantages 
of  earlier  experience  a  new  problem  which  involved  both 
practical  adjustment  and  analysis. 


272     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

THEORY  A  SUMMARY  OF  EXPERIENCE 

Theory  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  general  state- 
ment of  accumulated  experience.  A  scheme  of  thought  or 
a  scheme  of  experience  will  be  stated  in  the  form  of  a  gen^ 
eral  theory  when  a  whole  series  of  variations  can  be  included 
under  a  single  general  statement.  The  individual  who 
knows  this  single  general  statement  can  master  a  series 
of  experiences  more  readily  and  accurately,  because  he 
knows  where  to  turn  his  attention  and  how  to  harmonize 
his  individual  experiences. 

The  case  is  the  same  as  that  which  was  discussed  earlier 
in  speaking  of  the  sensory  controls  which  appear  when  one 
is  using  a  tool.  If  one  knows  how  the  tool  looks  and  the 
principle  upon  which  it  is  constructed,  he  is  in  a  position 
later  when  he  comes  to  use  this  tool  to  turn  his  attention  to 
the  phases  of  experiences  which  will  be  most  useful  in  guid- 
ing him.  So  theory  helps  the  practical  worker  to  guide  his  at- 
tention and  to  understand  the  situation  in  which  he  has  come. 

THEORY  AND  PRACTICAL  BEHAVIOR  SEPARATE  IN 
NATURE  AND  DEVELOPMENT 

If  one  studies  the  development  of  theoretical  knowledge 
in  the  history  of  the  race,  he  will  see  that  this  statement  is 
wholly  justified  by  the  way  in  which  theory  has  developed. 
We  shall  come  later  to  the  full  discussion  of  science  as  a 
subject  of  school  training,  but  it  may  be  pointed  out  in  this 
connection  that  the  development  of  science  or  theory  is  not 
the  same  as  the  development  of  practical  skill.  There  are 
races  which  have  grown  very  skillful  in  the  arts  but  have 
known  nothing  of  scientific  method.  Conversely,  there  have 
been  periods  when  abstract  forms  of  thought  have  far  out- 
stripped practical  activities.  The  greatest  problem  of  mod- 
ern society  is  to  take  the  results  of  science  into  industry 


MANUAL  SKILL  273 

and  refine  the  industrial  arts  under  the  guidance  of  theory. 
The  attainment  of  this  desirable  end  is  impeded,  however, 
by  the  fact  that  science  often  develops  in  one  mind  while 
skill  develops  in  another  individual.  Even  where  the  scien- 
tific knowledge  and  practical  skill  appear  in  a  single  indi- 
vidual, it  often  happens  that  this  individual  fails  to  apply 
such  science  as  he  knows  to  practical  activities  which  he 
takes  up  at  a  time  when  his  science  lies  dormant. 

One  of  the  most  striking  facts  in  human  mental  lif e  is  the 
possibility  of  two  experiences  failing  to  influence  each  other 
though  they  present  the  possibilities  of  productive  combina- 
tion. The  student  studies  physics  during  one  hour,  and  then 
goes  into  the  shop  and  uses  all  the  laws  of  mechanics ;  but 
because  the  workshop  presents  these  facts  in  a  different 
form,  he  fails  to  recognize  them.  The  girl  takes  chemistry 
and  cooking  and  fails  to  see  the  relation  between  the  two. 

THEORY  AND  LANGUAGE 

The  psychology  of  this  situation  is  perfectly  clear  in  the 
light  of  our  earlier  studies.  Theory  is  ordinarily  a  form  of 
verbal  reaction ;  practical  life  is  a  form  of  hand  reaction. 

The  boy  who  tries  to  hit  a  target,  for  example,  does  not 
use  his  vocal  cords  in  this  effort  at  all.  He  uses  his  hand ; 
and  the  experiences  which  he  .gets  through  his  eye  and 
through  his  contact  with  the  dart  issue  in  a  muscular  ad- 
justment of  the  hand  and  arm.  If  now  one  turns  the  boy's 
attention  away  from  the  actual  throwing  of  the  dart  and 
points  out  to  him  the  ray  of  light  as  it  traverses  the  water 
and  the  air,  the  boy's  mode  of  reaction  to  the  situation 
which  he  contemplates  is  likely  to  be  a  verbal  reaction. 
He  describes  the  situation  to  himself.  This  description  of 
the  situation  is  not  a  practical  movement  of  the  hand 
and  arm,  nor  can  it  be  brought,  as  we  saw  above,  into 
relation  to  practical  movements  of  the  hand  and  arm 


274    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

without  some  practice  and  without  some  contact  with  new 
and  complicated  opportunities  to  con  vert  theory  into  practice. 
Persistent  effort  to  adjust  behavior  to  different  depths  of 
water  may  develop  a  more  comprehensive  form  of  conscious- 
ness, including  both  verbal  description  and  hand  activity. 
\ 

OPPOSITION  BETWEEN  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE 
IN  EDUCATION 

This  distinction  between  a  verbal  description  and  prac- 
tical reaction  is  constantly  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
student  of  education.  No  more  notable  illustration  of  this 
distinction  can  be  offered  to  the  teacher  than  the  distinc- 
tion which  presents  itself  in  one's  own  professional  experi- 
ence. One  may  study  the  theory  of  school  discipline  and 
yet  be  wholly  unable  when  it  comes  to  practical  contact 
with  students  to  make  the  sort  of  move  which  will  secure 
good  discipline.  Theory,  on  the  one  side,  is  a  verbal  descrip- 
tion of  a  situation ;  practical  activity,  on  the  other,  calls 
for  all  sorts  of  adjustments  to  social  complexities,  and  the 
practical  adjustments  involved  are  essentially  different  in 
character  from  the  mere  verbal  statements. 

Industry  has  again  and  again  shown  itself  to  be  divorced 
from  science ;  and  science  has  very  frequently  gone,  in  its 
theoretical  statements,  very  far  away  from  the  practical 
situations  that  arise  in  ordinary  industry.  So  sharp  is  the 
antithesis  between  science  and  industry  in  some  cases  that 
both  parties  to  the  discussion  have  felt  keenly  their  sepa- 
ration from  each  other.  The  theoretical  student  has  been 
regarded  as  a  mere  juggler  with  words,  while  the  practical 
operator  has  been  thought  of  as  an  unintelligent  workman 
incapable  of  analyzing  his  own  experiences  and  certainly 
unable  to  transmit  to  others  through  clear  statements  the 
habits  which  he  himself  has  acquired. 


MANUAL  SKILL  275 


The  antithesis  will  continue  so  long  as  one  form  of  be- 
havior is  cultivated  without  a  clear  recognition  .of  the  pos- 
sibility of  bringing  it  into  productive  relation  to  the  other. 
There  must  be  a  higher  form  of  experience  than  that  which 
connects  itself  with  skill  of  hand  or  fluency  of  verbal  ex- 
pression. Let  us  adopt  the  term  "  application  "  as  a  general 
term  to  signify  the  relating  of  two  systems  of  experience 
to  each  other.  Our  problem  then  becomes  the  problem  of 
determining  how  language  can  be  applied  to  the  indus- 
trial arts,  and  how  the  industrial  arts  can  be  applied  to 
language  activities. 

PRIMITIVE  FORMS  OP  LEARNING 

Behavior  of  a  practical  sort  is  undoubtedly  the  original 
mode  of  adjustment,  both  in  the  animal  kingdom  and  in 
primitive  races.  The  technical  student  of  psychology  notes 
in  his  studies  of  such  primitive  behavior  that  it  develops 
through  trial  and  error.  The  animal  which  finds  itself  in 
a  trap  or  in  an  inclosure  of  any  kind  tries  to  escape  by 
seeking  an  exit,  now  at  one  point  and  now  at  another.  It 
runs  blindly  about  from  place  to  place  and  tries  every  pos- 
sible adjustment.  If  by  accident  it  makes  the  right  sort  of 
adjustment  it  may  escape  from  the  trap.  Success  in  this 
case  is  due  merely  to  energy  in  keeping  up  all  sorts  of 
lines  of  endeavor. 

The  same  general  formula  explains  man's  efforts  to  edu- 
cate animals.  One  tries  to  get  an  animal  to  perform  a  trick. 
He  keeps  the  animal  stimulated  until  finally  by  a  fortu- 
nate combination  of  circumstances  the  animal  does  what  is 
wanted.  One  must  be  very  prompt  in  rewarding  the  animal. 
The  reward  gives  a  satisfaction  which  tends  to  lead  to  a 
repetition  of  the  successful  adjustment.  Undoubtedly  many 


276     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

human  adjustments  are  of  exactly  the  same  type.  The  work- 
man who,  as  an  apprentice,  is  given  a  certain  tool  learns  in 
the  course  of  his  experience  some  of  the  skillful  methods  of 
using  this  tool.  He  tries  one  method  after  another  without 
being  very  fully  aware  of  the  fact  that  he  is  introducing 
modifications,  until  finally  by  some  fortunate  accident  he 
succeeds  in  hitting  upon  a  relatively  economical  method  of 
doing  the  work.  Satisfied  with  this  accidental  adjustment^ 
he  now  goes  on  working  in  that  way  and  makes  the  adjust- 
ment more  and  more  fixed  by  his  constant  repetition  of  it. 
In  an  earlier  connection  it  was  pointed  out  that  there  is 
little  or  no  motive  in  practical  life  for  any  consideration 
of  the  details  of  such  an  adjustment.  We  see  accordingly 
in  many  practical  activities  trial  and  error  with  little  or  no 
analytic  thought. 

HIGHER  FORMS  or  LEARNING 

Contrast  with  all  of  these  examples  of  trial  and  error  the 
way  in  which  an  intelligent  man  proceeds  to  deal  with  a 
new  situation.  Let  us  assume  for  the  moment  that  a  man 
has  been  caught  as  was  the  animal  which  we  used  in  an 
earlier  illustration.  The  man  in  the  trap  sits  down  and 
carefully  considers  every  phase  of  the  situation.  If  he 
should  begin  to  run  around  as  the  animal  does,  trying  now 
this  point  of  attack  and  now  that,  we  should  say  of*  him 
that  he  is  unintelligent ;  but  his  deliberate  consideration 
of  the  total  situation  marks  him  as  an  intelligent  man,  and 
his  intellectual  processes  are  evidently  being  appealed  to 
as  important  means  of  extricating  him  from  the  difficulty 
in  which  he  finds  himself.  The  way  in  which  the  man  is 
using  his  mental  experiences  in  this  case  may  be  described 
somewhat  as  follows :  He  first  takes  into  his  conscious  life 
the  situation  that  lies  before  him.  He  sees  with  his  eyes  or 
hears  with  his  ears  or  feels  with  his  hands  the  situation  as 


MANUAL  SKILL  277 

it  now  stands.  He  then  proceeds  to  concentrate  his  atten- 
tion upon  the  different  elements  of  this  situation.  He  does 
not  try  to  move  these  elements  themselves,  but  he  fixes 
his  attention  upon  certain  aspects  of  the  situation  as  these 
appear  in  his  mind.  We  have  described  this  sort  of  proc- 
ess in  an  earlier  connection  as  an  analysis  of  the  situation. 
We  may  now  put  the  matter  in  this  form :  The  individual 
has  a  conscious  process  which  is  a  legitimate  substitute  for 
the  objects  about  him,  and  he  works  over  this  conscious 
process  preparatory  to  dealing  with  the  practical  situation. 
Having  now  analyzed  the  situation  in  his  own  conscious- 
ness, he  brings  to  bear  upon  that  phase  of  the  situation 
which  seems  to  him  to  be  the  most  worthy  of  attack  all 
of  the  memories  and  experiences  of  the  past.  He  says  to 
himself :  "  There  is  no  use  in  trying  to  get  out.  in  that  direc- 
tion, because  the  bars  are  evidently  much  too  strong.  There 
is  no  use  in  trying  to  do  anything  here,  because  the  wall  is 
too  compact  and  thick.  I  can,  however,  by  putting  together 
these  and  these  pieces  of  wood  that  I  find  on  the  other  side 
of  the  cage  get  to  a  point  where  I  may  be  able  to  reach 
over  the  wall."  This  mental  process  of  rearranging  expe- 
riences in  the  mind  before  one  attempts  to  deal  with  the 
outside  world  shows  the  great  advantage  of  mental  read- 
justment over  physical  readjustment.  It  is  proper  to  say  that 
one  tries  a  great  many  experiments  in  his  imagination,  and 
in  a  sense  it  is  legitimate  to  call  that  also  a  method  of  trial 
and  error ;  but  the  point  is,  this  kind  of  trial  and  error  which 
one  carries  on  in  consciousness  is  very  economical  as  con- 
trasted with  the  kind  of  trial  and  error  which  the  animal 
exhibits  when  he  goes  from  point  to  point  in  the  trap  and 
makes  futile  efforts  to  attack  now  this  and  now  that  part 
of  the  situation.  Man  has  created  for  himself  a  world  of 
imaginary  experiences  in  the  midst  of  which  he  tries  to  work 
out  adjustments.  He  tries  to  see  whether  new  elements 
of  experience  may  be  piled  together;  and  if  his  conscious 


278    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

efforts  at  readjustment  satisfy  his  mind,  he  may  then  later 
try  to  realize  in  the  external  world  these  readjustments  which 
he  has  worked  out  first  of  all  in  his  conscious  imagination. 

LANGUAGE  A  GENERAL  INSTRUMENT  OF  APPLICATION 

Thus  far  in  describing  the  thought-processes  of  the 
intelligent  man  we  have  spoken  in  terms  which  did  not 
clearly  depict  these  processes  as  forms  of  behavior.  The 
form  of  activity  which  is  indispensable  for  such  considera- 
tions as  we  have  been  describing  is  language.  The  man 
talks  matters  over  with  himself.  He  tries  now  this  formula, 
now  that.  When  he  says  to  himself,  "  The  wall  is  too 
strong,"  he  is  classifying  his  present  visual  experiences 
under  the  whole  of  his  past  experience,  and  that  past  ex- 
perience has  been  marked  and  deposited  for  future  use 
with  the  label  "  strong."  The  very  power  of  discrimination 
by  which  he  turns  attention,  now  to  this  point,  now  to 
that,  depends  on  his  use  of  words  as  guides  to  his  mental 
processes.  Discrimination,  comparison,  recall  of  experi- 
ences, classification  of  experiences,  are  not  terms  which 
imply  lack  of  action.  On  the  contrary,  every  one  is  an 
active  term,  and  the  chief  instrument  of  human  life  in 
each  of  these  processes  is  language. 

In  short,  language  is  the  means  which  man  has  devised 
of  rearranging  his  ideas.  He  first  developed  language  as 
an  instrument  of  social  relations.  He  took  up  the  facts  of 
experience  and  passed  them  on  to  his  neighbor.  But  very 
soon  he  found  that  a  mode  of  behavior  which  would  shift 
ideas  from  mind  to  mind  might  advantageously  be  used  for 
private  ends  as  well  as  social,  and  so  man  turned  language 
into  a  means  of  private  adaptation.  Language  is  a  means 
of  self-adjustment,  an  instrument  of  personal  recoil  upon 
one's  own  mental  material.  It  is  an  active  instrument  for 
assorting  and  rearranging  ideas. 


MANUAL  SKILL  279 

PLAY  OF  IDEAS 

There  is  something  very  fascinating  about  the  readjust- 
ment of  ideas  in  one's  own  mind.  The  little  child  enjoys 
putting  ideas  together  just  because  he  finds  ideas  so  easy 
to  rearrange.  He  finds  the  real  world,  which  he  pushes 
around  with  his  hands,  very  stubborn.  So  he  puts  together 
ideas  with  all  the  freedom  of  limitless  possibilities  of  re- 
adjustment. Some  day  he  will  learn  the  hard  lesson  that 
this  free  putting  together  of  ideas  is  sometimes  useless 
and  often  worse  than  useless  as  a  preparation  for  practical 
life.  Mere  facility  in  recombinations  of  ideas  is  not  the 
final  goal  of  verbal  training. 

Come  back  to  our  man  caught  in  a  trap.  He  wants  to 
distribute  his  ideas  with  a  view  to  preparing  for  escape. 
Escape  means  movement  of  hands  and  legs.  Consideration 
means  rearrangement  of  ideas  with  the  aid  of  language.  It 
will  be  well  for  our  prisoner  if  he  has  learned  to  rearrange 
ideas  and  use  words  in  such  a  way  that  he  can  guide  his 
practical  behavior  by  his  carefully  considered  plans.  It  will 
be  well  for  him  if  he  has  cultivated  such  a  control  of  his 
hands  and  legs  that  they  can  ultimately  turn  into  practical 
acts  what  his  verbal  considerations  have  worked  out  in  his 
mind.  In  short,  there  is  a  higher  form  of  adjustment  than 
that  exhibited  either  in  gross  bodily  movements  or  in  the 
finer  movements  of  articulation.  The  two  forms  of  behavior 
must  be  made  to  influence  and  promote  each  other. 

ERROR  IN  REARRANGING  IDEAS 

This  has  been  the  great  struggle  of  human  thought. 
Often  the  inner  reaction  is  fantastic,  unpractical,  unsafe  as 
a  guide  to  life.  The  result  is  that  many  people  profess  to 
be  skeptical  about  the  value  of  intelligent  readjustments. 
The  race  as  a  whole,  however,  has  undoubtedly  reached 


280     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

an  entirely  different  conclusion.  Human  experience  differs 
from  animal  experience  in  the  fact  that  human  experience 
is  primarily  an  experience  based  upon  theoretical  considera- 
tions and  readjustments.  The  man  who  is  about  to  do  a 
piece  of  work  sits  down  and  plans  it  carefully,  because  the 
race  has  found  that  it  is  on  the  whole  very  much  more 
economical  in  point  of  material  and  in  point  of  energy  to 
proceed  after  one  has  made  a  very  careful  plan. 

When  one  reaches  on  such  grounds  the  conclusion  that 
it  is  desirable  to  develop  a  relation  between  practice  and 
theory,  and  when  one  bears  in  mind  the  conclusion  which 
has  been  emphasized  through  this  chapter  and  earlier 
chapters,  —  that  there  is  a  fundamental  difference  between 
theoretical  processes  and  practical  processes,  —  he  sees  that 
there  is  an  important  problem  in  education  in  developing 
the  power  of  translating  theory  into  practice  and  practice 
into  theory.  Theory  is  not  identical  with  practice  nor 
does  the  existence  of  practical  experience  insure  theoreti- 
cal insight.  Consequently,  in  the  school  one  must  make 
an  effort  to  bridge  over  the  chasm  between  the  two.  We 
must  say  to  the  student  who  has  studied  physics  that  he 
ought  to  try  to  work  out  some  of  the  principles  of  physics 
in  a  practical  way,  and  we  may  say  to  the  student  of  me- 
chanics in  the  shop  that  it  is  his  business  to  understand 
the  theoretical  principles  under  which  he  does  his  work. 
It  is  not  necessary  for  the  student  to  work  out  the  relation 
between  theory  and  practice  in  every  possible  case.  If  he 
can  work  out  a  few  simple  cases  he  will  be  in  possession 
of  a  principle  of  transition  from  theory  to  practice,  and  the 
reverse,  which  will  stand  him  in  good  stead  in  many  new 
situations  where  this  transition  from  the  one  type  of  ex- 
perience to  the  other  must  be  worked  out.  The  ordinary 
school  has  long  realized  the  importance  of  making  the 
transition  from  theory  to  practical  applications.  In  almost 
every  course  of  training  we  find  some  effort  to  show  the 


MANUAL  SKILL  281 

student  the  avenues  of  such  application.  We  have  not 
taken  advantage,  however,  to  the  extent  which  we  might, 
of  the  possibility  of  developing  science  in  the  presence  of 
practical  experience  through  analysis  of  this  experience.  We 
have  taught  physics  and  told  students  that  the  mechanical 
world  is  based  upon  physics.  We  have  not  developed  fully 
the  practice  of  teaching  students  how  to  make  something 
with  tools  and  then  to  subject  this  activity  to  the  analysis 
which  will  make  them  aware  of  the  way  in  which  theory 
can  be  attached  to  industry. 

UNION  OF  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE 

If  now  we  can  realize  as  the  outcome  of  our  study  of 
the  relation  between  theory  and  practice  the  importance  of 
moving  back  and  forth  from  theory  to  practice  and  from 
practice  to  theory,  and  if  we  can  realize  that  this  movement 
backward  and  forward  between  the  two  forms  of  experi- 
ence must  be  made  a  matter  of  explicit  endeavor  in  the 
school,  we  shall  have  added  to  our  course  of  study  an  im- 
portant series  of  exercises  which  are  neither  purely  theo- 
retical on  the  one  hand  nor  purely  practical  on  the  other. 

No  school  can  accomplish  this  purpose  without  including 
in  its  program  both  verbal  reactions  and  hand  reactions. 
Schools  have  long  tried  the  experiment  of  inculcating 
theory  and  relying  on  later  life  to  supply  the  opportunities 
for  application,  but  the  outcome  has  been  unsatisfactory. 
If  one  thinks  of  industry  as  a  training  school  in  which 
skill  is  emphasized  to  the  entire  neglect  (in  most  cases)  of 
science,  again  the  pitiful  plight  of  the  worker  in  a  modern 
factory  bears  testimony  to  the  unsuccess  of  a  training  which 
omits  theory.  We  come  back  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
school  must  include  both  theory  and  practice  for  the  sake 
of  producing  that  highest  type  of  human  experience  — 
a  single  comprehensive  union  of  theory  and  practice. 


282    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

DIFFICULTIES  ARISING  OUT  OF  SPECIALIZATION 

This  is  a  lesson  which  must  be  taken  to  heart  on  both 
sides  of  the  discussion.  The  teacher  of  science  must  not 
refuse  to  deal  with  shop  work,  nor  can  the  teacher  of 
manual  training  get  on  without  science.  The  two  must 
work  together.  That  there  has  been  lack  of  sympathy  in 
the  past  is  due  to  the  fundamental,  psychological  differ- 
ences between  theoretical  and  practical  activity.  The  two 
types  of  activity  may  grow  up  apart  from  each  other. 
Often  the  manual-arts  teacher  illustrates  this  fact  in  his 
lack  of  knowledge  of  science.  He  does  not  know  enough 
of  mechanical  science  to  state  the  facts  of  experience  which 
would  be  encountered  in  the  shop  in  the  formulas  of 
mechanical  science.  Furthermore,  he  is  very  frequently  so 
absorbed  in  the  practical  adjustment  of  the  tools  to  certain 
types  of  material  that  he  does  not  realize  the  possibilities 
of  a  scientific  study  of  the  facts  with  which  he  is  dealing. 
He  very  frequently  expresses  loudly  his  opposition  to  the 
use  of  books  and  stigmatizes  language  as  an  unworthy 
form  of  expression.  Conversely,  the  student  of  science 
shows  a  like  onesidedness  when  he  looks  down  upon  hand- 
work as  unworthy  of  recognition  in  the  schools.  For  him 
handwork  is  an  unintellectual  form  of  endeavor.  It  has 
no  relation  whatsover  to  thought-processes  which  are  of 
a  high  and  elevated  type. 

When  the  student  of  science  and  the  student  of  manual 
training  have  to  meet  in  the  faculty  meetings  for  the  pur- 
pose of  deciding  how  students  shall  be  trained,  each  makes 
an  effort  to  secure  as  much  time  for  his  special  line  of 
work  as  possible ;  and  each  regards  it  as  highly  desirable  that 
the  other's  subject  should  be  limited  to  as  short  a  period 
as  is  consistent  with  the  popular  demand  for  variety  in  the 
high-school  course.  If  one  should  propose  to  a  manual- 
training  teacher  that  part  of  the  tune  in  his  course  be  given 


MANUAL  SKILL  283 

to  training  in  the  theory  of  mechanics,  he  would  probably 
reply  that  the  student  gets  too  much  theory  now,  and  what 
is  needed  is  some  practical  contact  with  real  things.  Con- 
versely, if  the  student  of  physics  were  urged  to  do  a  little 
manual  training  in  the  physics  laboratory,  he  would  prob- 
ably offer  as  a  substitute  the  conventional  laboratory  ex- 
periments in  which  the  apparatus  has  been  carefully  made 
in  some  distant  city  and  so  arranged  that  the  student 
can  hardly  fail  to  set  up  the  different  pieces  in  the  way 
intended  by  the  manufacturer.  The  school  thus  actually 
fosters  the  divorcement  between  theory  and  practice. 

There  is  another  element  of  the  situation  which  exagger- 
ates this  separation  between  the  two  subjects.  Both  sub- 
jects are  supposed  to  accomplish  as  much  as  possible  within 
their  own  fields.  The  teacher  feels  pressed  for  tune  because 
in  the  manual-training  shop  he  must  introduce  the  student 
to  fourteen  different  tools  and  to  several  projects  which 
belong  in  his  particular  course.  The  teacher  of  physics 
has  a  textbook  in  hand  and  must  get  over  the  work  in 
some  fashion  or  other  inside  of  a  year.  It  makes  no  differ- 
ence at  all  to  either  of  these  teachers  that  the  student  will 
have  to  live  after  he  finishes  that  particular  year's  course ; 
and  it  does  not  seem  to  be  very  significant  in  the  thought 
of  either  one  of  these  teachers  that  the  student  will  prob- 
ably forget  something  over  three  fourths  of  what  he  has 
learned  in  either  course.  A  readjustment  which  would 
spend  half  of  the  time  in  each  of  these  courses,  actually 
making  the  transition  in  the  student's  mind  from  theory 
to  practice,  or  the  reverse,  would  undoubtedly  be  in  the 
long  run  economical  of  the  student's  mental  energy,  and 
would  make  available  for  later  life  the  small  residuum 
of  experience  which  is  all  that  he  can  possibly  carry  away 
from  either  course. 


284    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

CORRELATION  OF  SCIENCE  AND  THE  MANUAL  ARTS 

The  readjustment  here  recommended  is  by  no  means  as 
fanciful  as  it  may  seem  to  some  who  have  not  considered 
the  possibilities  of  working  out  such  a  combination.  The 
effort  has  been  made,  with  a  good  deal  of  success,  in  one 
of  the  German  schools  to  make  a  combination  of  manual 
training  and  physics  which  shall  be  advantageous  to  both 
subjects.  Professor  Freeman  has  made  available  in  English 
a  description  of  this  experiment,  in  a  review  of  the  German 
book,  setting  forth  the  course  in  detail.1 

Furthermore,  the  spirit  of  this  suggestion  has  been  real- 
ized on  a  large  scale  in  a  number  of  experiments  which  are 
being  tried  in  this  country  at  the  present  time ;  namely,  the 
experiments  with  part-time  classes,  which  attempt  to  unite 
school  work  of  the  traditional  sort  with  shop  work  carried 
on  by  students.  In  these  part-time  schemes  the  student  is 
in  school  during  one  week  or  during  one  month,  and  dur- 
ing the  following  week  or  month  is  engaged  in  practical 
industrial  work.  The  business  of  the  school  in  this  case  is 
not  to  duplicate  the  work  of  the  shop,  but  rather  to  bring  to 
bear  on  the  problems  of  the  shop  the  science  and  mathematics 
and  reading  which  the  student  would  miss  if  he  were  en- 
grossed altogether  in  the  practical  industries.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  recognized  that  his  reading  and  his  study  are 
taken  up  more  enthusiastically  because  in  his  shop  work  he 
is  constantly  in  the  presence  of  practical  problems  which 
stimulate  him  to  see  the  importance  of  his  school  studies.2 

1 "  Manual  Training  in  the  Service  of  Physics,"  School  Review, 
Vol.  XVII,  1909,  p.  609,  reviewing  fully  Physikalischer  Arbeitsunterricht, 
by  O.  Frey.  Ernst  Wunderlich,  1907. 

2  Twenty-fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of 
Labor,  published  by  the  government  printing  office,  1911.  Special  title  of 
the  report,  "Industrial  Education.  Part-time  Schools,"  pp.  200-206. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

INDUSTRIAL  COURSES 

RISE  AND  DEVELOPMENT  OF  COMMERCIAL  COURSES 

With  the  rapid  growth  of  industrial  education  during 
recent  years,  there  have  appeared  numerous  psychological 
problems  which  can  perhaps  best  be  introduced  by  describ- 
ing the  observations  which  one  makes  when  he  goes  into 
the  classes  where  work  of  this  sort  is  being  given.  The 
earliest  industrial  courses  to  be  organized  in  American  high 
schools  were  the  so-called  commercial  courses.  Before  the 
economic  pressure  was  felt  which  is  now  driving  the  schools 
and  the  public  at  large  to  recognize  the  importance  of 
training  in  the  trades,  there  was  a  demand  for  clerks  who 
could  take  charge  of  the  shipping  activities  of  the  country. 
For  a  long  time  the  United  States  has  exported  enormous 
amounts  of  raw  material.  This  country  has  not  needed, 
therefore,  skilled  laborers  to  make  up  its  materials  so  much 
as  shipping  clerks  and  agents  who  could  supervise  trans- 
portation. At  first  the  demand  for  clerks  was  met  by 
the  organization  of  special  schools  entirely  outside  of  the 
control  of  the  public  boards  of  education.  Even  to-day  we 
have  a  large  number  of  private  business  colleges.  Some- 
thing of  the  character  of  these  institutions  can  be  gathered 
from  the  special  report  prepared  by  the  Chicago  City  Club 
on  the  private  institutions  in  Chicago.1  In  general  it  is 
shown  in  this  report  that  the  effort  of  these  institutions  is 

1 A  Report  on  Vocational  Training  in  Chicago  by  a  Subcommittee  of 
the  Committee  on  Public  Education  of  the  City  Club  of  Chicago  (Part  III). 
Published  by  the  City  Club  of  Chicago,  1912. 

285 


286     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

to  give  in  the  shortest  possible  time  those  essential  forms 
of  training  which  are  required  to  bring  the  students  into 
commercial  offices. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  at  all  that  these  institutions  have 
discovered  some  of  the  most  efficient  methods  for  training 
students  rapidly  in  business  methods.  They  criticize  the 
public  schools  for  the  long  general  courses  which  are  re- 
quired of  students,  and  undoubtedly  secure  a  large  part 
of  their  patronage  because  many  people  are  convinced  of 
the  validity  of  these  criticisms. 

The  example  of  these  numerous  private  business  schools, 
together  with  the  urgent  demand  on  the  part  of  students 
that  they  be  equipped  to  enter  profitable  business  engage- 
ments immediately  upon  graduation,  has  led  to  the  wide- 
spread organization  of  various  kinds  of  commercial  courses 
in  the  high  schools  of  this  country. 

EMPHASIS  ON  RAPID  EXECUTION 

If  one  attends  the  classes  conducted  by  the  commercial 
departments,  as  for  example  the  classes  in  bookkeeping  or 
business  arithmetic  or  the  exercises  in  stenography  and 
typewriting,  he  finds  that  the  methods  of  procedure  are 
radically  different  from  the  methods  of  procedure  which 
are  common  in  the  other  courses  administered  in  the  school. 
One  of  the  first  ends  of  these  courses  is  to  secure  rapid 
execution.  The  student  is  brought,  as  soon  as  he  enters 
the  course,  to  realize  that  one  of  the  urgent  demands  of  the 
business  world  is  speed.  In  business  arithmetic  many  of 
the  short  methods  of  work  which  are  given  to  students  are 
not  explained  with  a  view  to  a  full  comprehension  of  the 
scientific  side  of  the  subject.  There  is  no  time  for  a  com- 
plete scientific  explanation,  and  the  student  is  not  called 
upon  to  deal  with  this  aspect  of  the  matter.  Bookkeeping 
also  is,  for  the  most  part,  taught  as  a  series  of  conventions. 


INDUSTRIAL  COUESES  287 

Those  who  take  the  course  are  impressed  with  the  necessity 
of  carrying  out  the  work  exactly  as  it  is  planned  in  the 
models  which  they  use  rather  than  with  the  necessity  of 
understanding  the  fundamental  reasons  why  this  particular 
method  of  procedure  is  economical. 

If  one  reads  the  literature  on  typewriting,  for  example, 
he  finds  that  there  is  very  little  discussion  of  the  reason 
why  a  certain  position  of  the  hand  or  a  certain  course  of 
training  is  economical.  The  student  is  directed  what  to  do, 
but  even  the  teacher  does  not  understand  the  reason  for 
the  formula.  In  one  recent  publication  on  typewriting,  the 
question  of  the  best  position  of  the  hand  is  discussed. 
Should -one  always  go  back  to  the  home  key  in  order  that 
he  may  locate  the  other  keys  from  this  point  of  reference, 
or  should  there  be  a  general  position  of  the  hand  which  is 
free  from  definite  reference  to  any  single  point  ?  There 
seems  to  be  no  evidence  beyond  the  testimony  of  certain 
interested  observers,  and  this  testimony  is  not  carefully 
worked  out  in  any  exact  way.  This  problem  could,  of 
course,  be  definitely  solved  by  simple  experiments. 

EMPHASIS  ON  IMITATION  OF  BUSINESS  CONDITIONS 

A  further  general  characteristic  of  these  commercial 
courses  is  their  effort  to  cultivate,  so  far  as  possible,  condi- 
tions that  are  exactly  similar  to  those  which  appear  in  the 
industries.  One  finds  in  the  commercial  department  that 
the  furniture  is  made  to  approximate,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
furniture  of  business  offices.  It  seems  necessary  in  teaching 
the  forms  of  banking  to  have  the  physical  paraphernalia  of 
a  bank  as  well  as  the  general  problems  that  confront  that 
kind  of  an  institution. 

Perhaps  no  clearer  evidence  of  this-  disposition  to  demand 
conditions  that  are  like  those  of  the  business  world  can  be 
found  than  that  given  in  the  reiterated  statements  that 


288     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

business  training  and  knowledge  of  the  details  of  business 
operations  are  absolutely  essential  in  the  training  of  the 
teacher.  This  statement  applies  not  only  to  the  commercial 
courses,  which  were  the  original  courses  introduced  in  the 
high  schools,  but  also  in  more  emphatic  form  to  all  of  the 
technical  courses,  which  are  rapidly  following  in  the  train 
of  the  commercial  courses.  A  recent  bulletin l  issued  by  the 
National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education 
lays  great  stress  on  the  practical  training  of  the  teacher. 

THE  TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS 

In  discussing  the  qualifications  of  industrial-school  teach- 
ers, this  report  lays  great  stress  upon  actual  contact  with 
trade. 

The  shop  instructor  must  know  his  trade  as  fully  as  does  a 
skilled  journeyman :  and  in  addition,  must  have  knowledge  of 
the  technical  methods  in  use  in  the  trade  together  with  the 
command  of  its  drawing,  mathematics,  science  and  art.  (P.  27.) 

Even  the  teacher  who  has^  charge  of  subjects  that  are 
related  to  the  strictly  technical  subjects  is  described  as 
follows : 

The  ideal  teacher  of  related  subjects  whom,  admittedly,  in 
practice  it  would  be  difficult  to  secure  in  large  numbers,  should 
have  trade  equipment.  .  .  .  (P.  28.) 

Experience  as  a  wage  earner  is  an  asset,  as  it  enables  one  to 
gain  a  sympathetic  insight  into  the  needs  of  the  worker,  to 
understand  the  aims  and  purposes  of  the  industrial  school  and 
its  responsibility  for  the  pupil  and  to  the  industry.  .  .  .  (P.  29.) 

1  Bulletin  No.  19,  "  The  Selection  and  Training  of  Teachers  for  State- 
Aid  Industrial  Schools  for  Boys  and  Men."  Special  report,  issued  1914, 
by  the  National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Industrial  Education. 


INDUSTRIAL  COURSES  289 

INDIVIDUAL  INSTRUCTION 

Another  characteristic  of  the  commercial  course  which 
is  very  conspicuous  to  the  observer  is  to  be  found  in  the 
fact  that  the  work  is  very  largely  individual  in  character. 
The  class  in  typewriting  is  not  a  social  organization  as  is  the 
class  in  history  or  science.  Each  member  of  the  class  is  ac- 
quiring personal  skill  and  is  allowed  to  progress  at  a  rate 
which  is  in  keeping  with  his  own  development.  He  goes 
over  a  certain  number  of  routine  exercises,  and  as  soon  as 
he  can  produce  a  perfect  copy  of  one  of  the  exercises  he  is 
allowed  to  progress  to  the  next.  Whether  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  class  are  keeping  pace  with  him  or  not  is  a 
matter  of  indifference.  The  amount  of  recitation  which 
one  hears  in  the  commercial  department  is  relatively  slight. 
The  same  statement  may  be  repeated  with  regard  to  the 
technical  courses  carried  on  in  the  shop. 

ANTITHESIS  BETWEEN  CONVENTIONAL  COURSES  AND 
INDUSTRIAL  COURSES 

All  of  these  examples,  as  well  as  the  general  discus- 
sions of  the  problem  of  industrial  education  which  have 
recently  been  presented,  emphasize  the  fact  that  there  is  a 
distinction  between  the  ordinary  school  procedure  and  the 
procedure  which  is  appropriate  as  one  turns  to  a  study  of 
industry.1 

:  This  antithesis  between  industrial  courses  and  the  ordi- 
nary courses  of  the  school  program  is  not  a  mere  matter  of 
school  organization.  It  implies  a  fundamentally  divergent 

1  F .  M.  Leavitt,  Examplesof  Industrial  Education,  especially  chaps,  vii- 
xiv  (Ginn  and  Company) ;  J.  M.  Gillette,  Vocational  Education,  espe- 
cially chaps,  xi-xiii  (American  Book  Company,  1910) ;  address  by  Andrew 
S.  Draper,  "The  Desirable  Uniformity  and  Diversity  in  American  Educa- 
tion," Proceedings  of  the  National  Education  Association,  1908,  p.  215. 


290     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

conception  of  the  mental  processes  which  are  to  be  devel- 
oped in  students  and  of  the  way  in  which  society's  demands 
are  to  be  presented  to  the  growing  individual. 

Let  us  consider  briefly  the  psychological  consequences  of 
some  of  the  characteristics  of  industrial  courses  which  have 
been  mentioned  above.  In  the  first  place,  what  is  the  result 
of  requiring  that  an  act  be  performed  at  the  highest  possible 
speed?  All  that  was  said  in  the  chapter  on  the  psychol- 
ogy of  skill  about  the  difficulty  of  recognizing  the  sensa- 
tions which  one  employs  in  controlling  his  activities  is 
pertinent  to  this  discussion.  If  one  has  to  work  at  a  high 
rate  of  speed,  his  attention  must  always  be  concentrated 
upon  the  results  of  his  work  and  he  has  little  or  no  oppor- 
tunity to  study  his  methods  of  procedure.  Furthermore, 
there  is  little  disposition  to  call  in  question  those  modes 
of  procedure  which  have  been  found  in  earlier  practice  to 
serve  the  purpose. 

THE  RELATION  OF  SCIENTIFIC  STUDIES  IN  INDUSTRY 

Industry  is  seeing  the  importance  at  the  present  time  of 
setting  aside  certain  of  its  agents  to  examine  very  carefully 
the  way  in  which  workingmen  move  during  each  of  the 
processes  of  their  labor.  These  so-called  efficiency  experts 
are  finding  that  the  product  which  heretofore  has  been 
regarded  by  commercial  concerns  as  entirely  acceptable  is 
ordinarily  produced  in  a  relatively  uneconomical  way.  The 
standards  of  commerce  up  to  this  time  have  been  the  stand- 
ards of  a  general  average  of  mediocre  types  of  activity. 
The  efficiency  expert  finds  that  by  careful  analysis  of  some 
of  these  mediocre  and  relatively  clumsy  forms  of  activity 
he  can  produce  a  more  efficient  form  of  behavior.  He  brings 
into  the  commercial  world  an  entirely  new  psychological  atti- 
tude. It  is  the  attitude  of  analyzing  one's  movements  for 
the  purpose  of  improving  the  movements  themselves.  To  be 


INDUSTRIAL  COURSES  291 

sure,  the  ultimate  aim  is  an  output  which  shall  be  cheaper 
and  perhaps  better  than  that  which  has  been  produced  by 
the  earlier,  methods.  But  the  psychology  of  the  situation  is 
that  for  the  time  being  attention  is  turned  to  the  process 
itself,  and  this  is  made  a  subject  of  careful  analytical  study. 

No  clearer  evidence  could  be  found  than  this  to  show 
that  there  is  a  difference  between  the  ordinary  commercial 
attitude  and  the  intellectual  attitude  which  is  common  to 
science.  The  difficulty  with  a  careful  scientific  study  of 
one's  behavior  is  that  it  impedes  the  progress  of  the  activity 
for  the  time  being.  One  cannot  deliberate  about  his  activi- 
ties and  work  with  the  speed  that  is  required  in  practical, 
competitive  commerce.  The  laborer,  therefore,  is  trained 
not  to  deliberate  about  his  activities,  but  to  go  forward  at 
the  highest  possible  rate  of  speed.  The  business  of  the 
class  which  is  to  train  the  worker  is  thought  of  in  the  same 
spirit,  and  is  held  to  consist  in  pointing  out  some  of  the 
methods  of  work  which  will  bring  the  worker  more  promptly 
to  the  result  and  will  suppress  in  his  mind  any  inquiries 
as  to  the  grounds  for  these  different  forms  of  behavior.  He 
cannot  be  both  a  scientist  and  an  efficient  laborer  in  the  short 
period  of  time  which  society  has  allotted  him  for  his  training. 

The  psychologist  finds  himself  confronted  here  by  one  of 
those  large  social  questions  which  it  is  not  possible  for  him 
to  deal  with  inside  the  limits  of  his  special  science.  How 
the  individual  is  to  get  time  for  a  scientific  examination  of 
commercial  processes  and  likewise  fill  his  place  in  the  world 
as  an  efficient  laborer  is  indeed  a  difficult  social  problem. 
So  long  as  our  manufacturing  concerns  are  organized  at 
the  level  of  competition  which  is  common  at  present,  and 
so  long  as  the  diversities  of  human  nature  are  as  great  as 
they  are,  the  probabilities  seem  large  that  a  uniform  atten- 
tion to  analysis  of  processes  on  the  part  of  all  students  will 
hardly  be  attained  in  education.  But  if  society  is  to  make 
a  distinction  between  its  members,  and  if  the  methods  of 


292     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

training  the  different  members  of  society  are  to  be  sharply 
differentiated,  there  ought  to  be  a  clear  consciousness  on 
the  part  of  teachers  of  the  effects  on  personality  of  these 
social  stratifications.  For  example,  if  it  is  contended  that 
commercial  courses  are  good  for  everybody,  the  antithesis 
between  commercial  methods  and  scientific  methods  ought 
certainly  to  be  borne  in  mind.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
commercial  courses  are  to  be  administered  to  a  part  of 
the  school  population  and  not  to  another  part,  again  there 
should  be  a  perfectly  clear  knowledge  on  the  part  of  all 
that  the  distinction  is  a  psychological  distinction  and  not 
merely  a  distinction  of  specialized  subject  matter  or  content. 

ACADEMIC  STANDARDS  AND  PRACTICAL  STANDARDS 

Again,  let  us  consider  the  psychological  difference  be- 
tween the  standards  which  are  set  up  in  the  ordinary 
academic  courses  and  the  commercial  courses.  As  indi- 
cated above,  there  is  always  an  appeal  in  commercial 
courses  to  the  standards  accepted  in  the  business  world. 
The  academic  world  is  supposed  by  the  business  world  to 
be  very  lax  in  its  standards.  Possibly  this  criticism  of  the 
academic  world  can  be  removed  in  a  measure  by  calling 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  teacher  always  has  a  sliding 
scale  of  standards,  which  he  applies  with  reasonable  dis- 
crimination to  the  different  stages  of  development  of  his 
students.  One  can  be  very  complacent,  for  example,  with 
a  little  child  who  is  just  beginning  to  read  if  he  does  not 
read  with  accuracy  and  fluency.  The  standards  of  the  first 
grade  in  reading  are  relatively  low  as  contrasted  with  the 
standards  which  are  set  in  the  upper  grades.  In  the  same 
way  one  is  very  complacent  in  educational  institutions  with 
the  German  sentence  which  is  formulated  by  a  student  who 
has  been  studying  German  for  two  semesters.  No  one  asks 
of  a  student  of  this  degree  of  maturity  in  the  schools  that 


INDUSTRIAL  COUESES  293 

he  pay  attention  chiefly  to  the  results  of  his  work.  The 
teacher  is  always  more  or  less  aware  of  the  fact  that  the 
student's  mental  activity  is  being  perfected  even  through 
the  errors  which  he  commits.  The  teacher  constantly  dis- 
counts, therefore,  the  actual  product  of  a  student's  work, 
making  allowances  for  his  immaturity. 

Commercial  teachers  and  trade  teachers,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  likely  to  be  very  intolerant  of  mistakes.  They 
do  not  make  any  careful  study  of  the  student's  mental 
processes  which,  in  many  cases,  explain  the  mistakes.  Any 
one  who  has  seen  a  shop  teacher  send  a  boy  back  to  the 
task  of  making  over  his  work,  without  a  word  'of  expla- 
nation as  to  the  way  in  which  he  may  improve  it,  will 
realize  that  in  many  of  our  shop  courses  commercial  stand- 
ards are  imposed  upon  the  workers  with  a  good  deal  of 
vigor,  but  with  little  tolerance  for  their  immaturity.  In  fact, 
this  is  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  virtues  of  shop  courses. 
There  is  no  parleying  with  students  about  their  loose  meth- 
ods and  inefficient  work.  They  must  come  up  to  the  com- 
mercial standards  by  some  means  or  other.  Unless  they  do 
reach  these  standards,  their  work  will  be  ruthlessly  rejected 
and  they  will  have  pointed  out  to  them  their  lack  of  prepa- 
ration for  actual  contact  with  the  real  world. 

Not  all  commercial  teachers  are  open  to  this  type  of 
criticism;  but  enough  of  them  would  be  quite  willing  to 
accept  the  description  of  their  methods  given  above  to  jus-' 
tify  the  statement  that  there  is  a  marked  opposition  between 
the  methods  adapted  in  teaching  ordinary  academic  subjects 
and  the  methods  of  commercial  and  trade  courses.  Whether 
the  one  method  of  procedure  or  the  other  is  the  most  advan- 
tageous from  an  educational  point  of  view  must,  of  course, 
be  determined  by  an  empirical  study  of  the  effects  of  each 
method  upon  students.  The  psychologist  is  probably  better 
acquainted  with  the  effects  of  the  ordinary  academic  meth- 
ods of  teaching  students,  and  he  notes  with  interest  that 


294    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

the  tendency  of  the  academic  world  at  the  present  time 
is  to  pay  more  and  more  attention  to  the  mental  processes 
through  which  students  are  passing.  The  movement  toward 
supervised  study  in  all  of  the  academic  institutions  is  one 
of  the  most  significant  movements  in  current  education. 
Unless  industrial  teachers  also  recognize  the  value  of  super- 
vised teaching,  it  is  likely  that  the  breach  between  their 
courses  and  methods  and  the  ordinary  academic  courses 
will  grow  wider  rather  than  be  eliminated. 

SPECIALIZATION 

A  further  psychological  principle  which  emerges  from 
our  examination  of  the  practical  courses  is  the  principle 
that  industry  tends  toward  specialization.  We  are  urged  to 
prepare  brief  courses  in  even  the  academic  subjects  which 
shall  eliminate  all  of  the  matter  that  is  not  relevant  to  the 
industrial  expectations  of  the  student.1 

In  these  continuation  schools  one  of  the  most  significant 
arrangements  is  the  close  correlation  of  the  theoretical  founda- 
tions of  each  trade  with  the  instruction  in  the  processes  of  the 
trade.  That  is  to  say,  the  mathematics  of  the  school  is  the 
mathematics  of  the  shop,  whether  it  is  jewelry  or  shoemaking 
or  carpentry.  The  same  is  true  of  the  machinist's  mathe- 
matics. Similarly  the  drawing  of  the  school  is  the  drawing  of 
'the  shop.  The  problems  which  the  boy  finds  in  the  shop  to-day 
are  dwelt  upon  at  length  in  the  school  to-morrow.  In  the  same 
way  the  closest  possible  relations  of  the  sciences,  physical  or 
biological,  to  the  trade  concerned  are  maintained.  The  youth 
learns  also  the  history  of  his  trade,  civics,  and  the  proper  use 
of  his  mother  tongue  in  relation  to  his  trade. 

This  spirit  of  specialization  is  entirely  intelligible  when 
one  studies  the  historical  development  of  industry.  Industry 

1  P.  H.  Harms,  Beginnings  in  Industrial  Education  and  Other  Educa- 
tional Discussions,  p.  20.  Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  1908. 


INDUSTRIAL  COURSES  295 

has  always  shown  itself  to  be  a  progressive  concentration 
upon  particular  types  of  material.  If  one  wishes  to  borrow 
from  the  anthropologists  a  very  striking  illustration  of  this 
fact,  he  learns  that  for  a  long  period  of  time  man  used  only 
one  substance,  namely,  stone,  in  all  of  his  arts.  The  reason 
for  this  was  that  he  had  not  discovered  the  value  of  other 
substances  and  probably  was  wholly  complacent  about  the 
substance  which  he  knew  so  familiarly.  It  takes  an  indus- 
trial concern  a  long  while  to  make  up  its  mind  to  change 
from  one  material  with  which  it  is  familiar  to  some  other 
material  which  is  less  familiar.  It  takes  a  long  while  in  any 
business  operation  to  persuade  men  to  change  their  methods 
of  procedure.  Industry  is  conservative ;  and  the  student  who 
gets  a  training  of  an  industrial  type  is  likely  to  be  conserva- 
tive to  the  extent  of  excluding  from  his  psychological  inter- 
ests practically  all  of  the  concerns  which  do  not  bear  directly 
upon  the  one  mode  of  operation  that  is  familiar  in  his  field. 

CONSEQUENCES  OF  SPECIALIZATION 

This  high  degree  of  specialization  within  any  given  in- 
dustry explains  in  a  measure  why  industry  and  science 
have  always  been  relatively  aloof  from  each  other.  Industry 
is  so  conservative  that  it  does  not  seek  to  discover  the 
possibilities  of  change  which  lie  all  about  it.  Science,  on 
the  other  hand,  with  its  keen  interest  in  the  extension  of 
investigation  into  new  fields,  is  constantly  working  out 
principles  without  attempting  to  apply  these  principles  to 
practical  situations.  Science  is  an  expression  of  human  in- 
terest in  exploration ;  industry  is  an  expression  of  human 
interest  in  the  conservation  of  material  and  the  conser- 
vation of  energy.  Science  and  industry  have,  therefore, 
been  very  inert  in  seeking  relations  with  each  other.  One 
reads  in  books  on  education  the  broad,  optimistic  statement 
that  knowledge  grows  with  the  evolution  of  industry  and 


296    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

that  training  in  intellectual  ways  will  make  more  efficient 
workmen.  Even  a  superficial  knowledge  of  the  history  of 
the  race  makes  it  clear  that,  so  far  as  the  individual  and 
his  training  are  concerned,  there  is  no  ground  for  this  opti- 
mism that  industry  and  science  will  cooperate.  In  the  long 
run  society,  as  a  whole,  does  develop  both  industry  and 
science ;  and  in  the  long  run  these  two  types  of  experience 
encounter  each  other  and  modify  each  other's  points  of 
view.  But  the  union  of  the  two  types  of  interest  and  the 
two  types  of  training  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  problems 
of  modern  civilization. 


IS    THERE   TO   BE    SPECIALIZATION   IN   ORGANIZATION? 

These  facts  explain  the  bitter  controversies  that  have 
arisen  in  recent  years  in  educational  circles  with  regard  to 
the  organization  and  administration  of  industrial  education. 
There  is  a  party  of  educators  —  and  they  are  supported  by 
practical  business  men  —  who  believe  that  it  is  quite  impos- 
sible to  organize  industrial  education  under  the  same  roof 
with  general  education.  They  believe  that  the  methods  of 
industrial  education  are  radically  different  from  those  of 
ordinary  education.  They  believe  that  the  spirit  of  these 
courses  is  at  variance  with  the  spirit  of  traditional  school 
work;  that  a  new  and  unhampered  effort  to  turn  human 
interests  in  the  direction  of  industry  is  the  only  salvation 
for  our  times. 

APPLICATIONS  MUST  BE  CONSCIOUSLY  DEVELOPED 

The  psychologist  sees  in  these  contentions  in  favor  of  a 
separate  organization  of  industrial  courses  not  a  complete 
and  discriminating  analysis  of  the  situation,  but  a  violent 
partisan  expression  of  the  psychological  facts  which  all 
along  have  been  exhibited  in  the  history  of  science  and 


INDUSTRIAL  COURSES  297 

industry.  The  psychologist's  solution  for  the  situation  is 
one  which  calls  for  the  development  of  that  higher  form 
of  intellectual  mastery  which,  in  an  earlier  chapter,  has 
been  called  the  power  of  application.  That  the  power  of 
application  is  neither  abstract  science  on  the  one  hand 
nor  specialized  industry  on  the  other  has  been  fully  stated 
in  these  earlier  paragraphs  and  may  be  left  at  this  point 
without  a  review  of  the  psychological  grounds  which 
were  there  presented. 

NEW  VOCATIONAL  COUESES  FOE  GIELS 

There  are  plenty  of  illustrations  within  the  school  or- 
ganization which  could  be  added  to  that  earlier,  theoretical 
discussion  in  support  of  the  conclusion  that  science  and  in- 
dustry find  it  very  difficult  to  merge  in  the  school  program. 
Most  of  the  examples  which  we  have  used  up  to  this  point 
are  examples  that  relate  to  the  training  of  boys.  Let  us 
choose  for  the  present  discussion  an  example  that  relates 
to  the  training  of  girls. 

High  schools  have  recently  taken  on,  in  increasing  de- 
gree, courses  in  domestic  art  and  domestic  science,  it  being 
clearly  recognized  that,  whatever  occupation  a  girl  is  to 
enter  immediately  after  her  school  training,  she  will  inevi- 
tably look  forward  to  the  ultimate  vocation  of  conducting 
a  household.  So  universally  has  this  demand  for  domestic 
courses  been  recognized  that  there  has  been  less  question 
about  the  introduction  of  these  courses  into  the  school 
program  than  about  the  introduction  of  any  of  the  other 
vocational  courses.  There  has  been  the  most  sincere  effort 
to  articulate  these  courses  with  the  rest  of  the  work  of 
the  school.  Furthermore,  since  cooking  involves  certain 
changes  that  are  chemical  in  type,  the  suggestion  naturally 
came  very  early  in  the  development  of  the  domestic  courses 
that  the  cooking  courses  should  be  articulated  as  intimately 


298     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

as  possible  with  the  courses  in  chemistry.  The  result  is 
that  we  see  the  most  extraordinary  efforts  to  make  cook- 
ing a  science  like  the  science  of  chemistry.  We  see,  on  the 
other  hand,  equally  extraordinary  efforts  to  make  chemistry 
practical  for  the  girl  who  is  studying  cooking. 

FAILURES  IN  THE  EFFORT  TO  CORRELATE  SCIENCE 
AND  PRACTICAL  COURSES 

Any  examination  of  the  actual  situation  in  high  schools 
and  colleges  will  make  the  unbiased  observer  perfectly 
clear  that  this  effort  at  articulation  of  chemistry  and  cook- 
ing has  been  a  huge  failure.  What  commonly  happens  is 
that  a  course  in  organic  chemistry  or  a  general  course  in 
chemistry  is  administered  with  the  usual  paraphernalia 
of  laboratory  exercises  and  with  the  usual  demands  of  a 
strictly  quantitative,  scientific  analysis.  The  girl  is  prom- 
ised, through  the  whole  of  this  course,  that  she  will  get 
information  which  is  indispensable  for  her  cooking.  She 
then  goes  to  the  cooking  class  and  finds  that  the  formulas 
in  this  class  are  loose  and  unquantitative.  Then  she  finds 
that  the  chemical  changes  which  go  on  in  the  ordinary  food 
substances  are  by  no  means  understood  -by  her  instructors 
or  by  any  one  who  was  interested  hi  giving  her  the  known 
facts  of  organic  chemistry.  She  finds  that  there  is  a  whole 
series  of  unsolved  problems  in  cooking  which  are  not  prob- 
lems of  chemistry  at  all,  but  problems  of  physics  or  problems 
of  economics.  Her  confidence  in  her  teacher  who  has  been 
promising  her  applications  of  chemistry  breaks  down.  She 
feels  that  there  is  no  correlation  between  her  cooking  and 
the  one  subject  where  this  correlation  was  definitely  prom- 
ised, and  consequently  she  gives  up,  in  general,  the  effort 
to  relate  her  cooking  to  the  rest  of  her  studies. 

Somebody  ought  to  convince  the  teachers  of  domes- 
tic science  that  scientific  methods  can  be  applied  to  the 


INDUSTRIAL  COURSES  299 

problems  of  the  cooking  laboratory  quite  as  much  as  in  any 
of  the  problems  of  chemistry  which  are  studied  in  the  ordi- 
nary elementary  courses.  The  empirical  facts  which  can  be 
ascertained  with  regard  to  the  changes  that  take  place  in 
meat  while  it  is  being  roasted  are  just  as  important  to  the 
human  race  as  any  of  the  laboratory  investigations  in  the 
chemistry  course.  A  description  of  these  changes  under 
carefully  organized,  scientific  conditions  is  good  science 
and  good  mental  discipline  even  if  it  is  not  to  be  classified 
as  chemistry  or  physics  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term. 
The  difficulty,  educationally,  in  these  cases  is  that  the  cor- 
relation has  been  sought  on  too  narrow  a  basis.  The  effort 
to  make  industry  scientific  has  started  from  the  foundation 
of  a  conventional  course  in  science,  without  recognizing 
the  fact  that  this  conventional  course  grew  up  historically 
without  reference  to  the  particular  problems  of  cooking. 
The  sudden  effort  to  bring  the  two  together  without  the 
creation  of  any  intermediate  system  of  ideas  is  destined, 
from  the  outset,  to  be  a  failure.  The  trouble  here,  as  else- 
where in  the  school  program,  lies  in  the  assumption  that  if 
a  student  is  given  two  bodies  of  knowledge,  the  two  will 
flow  together  in  his  mind  and  affect  each  other  favorably ; 
whereas  all  school  experience  goes  to  show,  beyond  any 
peradventure,  that  two  systems  of  knowledge  given  to  a 
student  are  as  unlikely  to  flow  together  in  his  mind  as  two 
streams  on  two  sides  of  a  watershed. 

COURSES  IN  AGRICULTURE  ILLUSTRATE  THE  DIFFICUL- 
TIES OF  CORRELATION 

Another  example  of  the  extreme  difficulty  of  working 
out  correlations  between  science  and  industry  is  to  be  found 
in  the  recent  experiments  which  have  been  undertaken  in 
agricultural  courses  in  the  high  school.  A  very  large  body 
of  literature  has  been  created  on  this  topic  and  it  would 


300     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

require  a  specialist  to  offer  any  valid  judgments  about  the 
actual  situation  at  the  present  time.1 

Quoting  from  the  report  by  Robison,  we  see  that  it  is  the 
judgment  of  a  specialist  that  the  situation  is  not  materially 
different  from  that  which  is  described  in  connection  with 
cooking  and  chemistry. 

Agriculture  is  probably  taught  as  well  as  other  sciences  in 
the  same  schools,  but  the  deficiencies  are  more  common  on  ac- 
count of  the  greater  opportunity  afforded  to  make  concrete  the 
principles  of  the  various  sciences.  So  much  have  the  sciences 
been  regarded  as  instruments  of  a  disciplinary  education,  that 
the  absence  of  concrete  applications  has  not  seemed  to  many  to 
be  such  a  marked  defect.  The  pedagogy  of  agricultural  instruc- 
tion must  take  account  of  the  essentially  utilitarian  aspect  of 
this  subject.  The  philosophy  underlying  the  method  of  instruc- 
tion i§  not  consistent  with  that  conception  of  education  that  to 
be  cultural  is  to  be  useless  ;  nor  does  agriculture  in  the  schools 
depend  for  its  justification  on  any  supposed  disciplinary  values, 
not  that  it  does  not  possess  as  much  value  in  this  direction  as 
other  studies,  but  agriculture  as  a  study  may  justly  claim  to 
have  a  content  of  its  own  that  is  worth  while.  It  does  not  need 
the  prop  of  a  disciplinary  conception  of  education  that  bids  fair 
to  become  obsolete.  But  if  the  administrator's  idea  is  to  teach 
the  art  or  trade  of  farming,  his  methods,  while  involving  the 
idea  of  doing,  will  probably  be  those  of  purely  imitative  doing, 
and  not  calculated  to  cultivate  initiative,  to  give  opportunity 
for  forming  and  correcting  judgments,  nor  for  acquiring  a  scien- 
tific habit  of  thought.  Viewed  as  an  education,  agriculture 
should  do  all  these  things  as  truly  as  any  other  science  is  sup- 
posed to  do.  We  must  remember  that  we  are  teaching  children 
as  well  as  subjects.  (P.  173.) 

We  do  not  have  to  believe  that  the  unrelated  chemistry  ex- 
periment is  the  only  thing  giving  opportunity  for  making  and 

1  W.  G.  Hummel  and  B.  R.  Hummel,  Material  and  Methods  in  High 
School  Agriculture  (The  Macmillan  Company,  1913) ;  G.  A.  Bricker,  The 
Teaching  of  Agriculture  in  the  High  School  (The  Macmillan  Company, 
1911) ;  C.  H.  Robison,  Agricultural  Instruction  in  the  Public  High  Schools 
of  the  United  States  (Teachers  College,  1911). 


INDUSTRIAL  COURSES  301 

correcting  judgments ;  nor  is  this  the  exclusive  attribute  of 
that  particular  kind  of  mathematical  physics  that  is  killing 
itself  off  except  as  bolstered  up  by  college  entrance  require- 
ments. The  contests  between  the  disciplinarians  and  the  phe- 
nomenologists  tend  to  drive  the  latter  class  into  an  extreme 
and  untenable  position.  The  remark  made  recently  that  "  there 
are  no  methods  of  teaching  above  the  grades  "  is  not  an  indict- 
ment of  the  high  school  instruction  and  not  of  pedagogy.  Even 
in  the  grades  the  current  methods  of  carrying  on  garden  work 
are  not  calculated  to  encourage  initiative  on  the  part  of  the 
child  or  to  place  any  definite  problems  before  him  for  solution. 
It  is  often  only  a  sort  of  physical  exercise  that  is  better  than 
gymnasium  work  because  it  is  out  of  doors.  (P.  175.) 


PROBLEMS  OF  APPLICATION  AND  DISCIPLINE 

This  last  quotation  leaves  us  with  two  general  psycho- 
logical problems  which  we  must  canvass  more  fully  in  later 
chapters.  One  of  these  problems  has  been  emphasized 
throughout  this  chapter.  It  is  the  problem  of  relating  sci- 
ence to  industrial  training.  The  second  problem  which  is 
suggested  by  Mr.  Robison  is  the  general  problem  of  mental 
discipline,  to  which  he  refers  in  the  remark  that  this  doctrine 
of  education  is  rapidly  becoming  obsolete.  We  shall  reserve 
for  a  general  chapter  the  discussion  of  this  topic.  But  we 
must  take  the  opportunity  of  reiterating  what  was  said  in 
an  earlier  chapter.  The  ancient  languages  have  borne, 
because  of  their  completely  developed  form,  a  very  large 
burden  of  the  discussion  of  the  general  doctrine  of  formal 
discipline.  Everywhere  through  the  course  of  study  this 
problem  turns  up  as  an  important  problem.  Does  one  sub- 
ject have  a  bearing  upon  other  subjects  in  the  course  of 
study  ?  Does  the  mental  attitude  which  a  child  cultivates 
in  one  sphere  of  experience  affect  his  mental  life  in  other 
spheres  ?  We  have  seen  how  entirely  possible  it  is  for  sci- 
ence and  industry  to  be  separated  from  each  other  in  the 


302     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

history  of  the  race  and  in  the  experience  of  the  individual. 
We  have  had  occasion  to  call  attention  to  the  grave  educa- 
tional problem  which  arises  out  of  this  fact.  We  shall  later 
see  that  any  statement  that  subjects  are  not  related  to  each 
other  is  of  cardinal  importance  to  the  educator  and  cannot 
be  dismissed  by  the  mere  assertion  that  at  present  relations 
do  or  do  not  exist.  The  important  question  for  the  student 
of  education  is  how  can  school  work  be  organized  so  as  to 
gain  as  intimate  a  relationship  as  possible  between  the  dif- 
ferent mental  processes  which  the  student  cultivates.  No 
educational  scheme  is  adequately  worked  out  which  has 
to  be  characterized  by  the  statement  that  two  subjects  are 
so  remote  from  each  other  that  one  may  go  on  developing 
without  influencing  the  other. 

This  chapter  leaves  us  with  a  clearly  denned  problem. 
A  solution  of  this  problem  can  be  reached  only  through 
further  analyses  of  related  subjects. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

SCIENCE 
DIFFICULTY  OF  ORGANIZING  SCIENCE  INSTRUCTION 

Throughout  the  last  few  chapters  the  implication  that 
science  cultivates  a  type  of  experience  which  is  desirable  has 
been  expressed  without  any  serious  effort  to  justify  the 
position  assumed.  When  we  turn  to  the  school  situation 
we  find  much  to  discourage  the  assumption  that  science  is 
a  successful  element  of  the  course  of  study.  As  was  pointed 
out  in  the  introductory  chapter,  twenty  years  ago  there 
was  the  most  unqualified  optimism  among  those  who  were 
active  in  introducing  science  into  school  programs.  They 
were  emphatic  in  the  assertion,  which  cannot  be  denied, 
that  science  lies  at  the  foundation  of  modern  industrial 
development.  They  called  attention  to  the  popular  interest 
in  scientific  discovery  and  to  the  vast  improvement  and  en- 
largement of  the  methods  of  research.  They  assumed  that 
it  would  be  easy  to  introduce  students  to  science.  Expe- 
rience has  served  to  temper  this  optimism.  During  two 
decades  the  percentage  of  election  of  science  courses  has 
steadily  decreased.  Textbook  after  textbook  has  appeared 
and  been  discarded.  High-school  administrators  say  that 
the  teaching  in  science  is  not  as  effective  as  the  teaching  in 
literary  subjects.  The  various  courses  in  the  different  sci- 
ences show  no  coherence,  and  the  outcome  in  the  way  of 
practical  applications  made  by  students  is  so  meager  that 
the  value  of  science  teaching  is,  on  every  hand,  seriously 
called  in  question.  Certainly  if  any  situation  ever  demanded 
careful  examination,  it  is  this  failure  of  science  to  establish 

303 


304    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

itself  in  an  age  when  science  is  popularly  thought  of  as  the 
most  productive  type  of  intellectual  activity. 

The  discoveries  which  have  been  made  by  science  teachers 
during  this  period  of  discouragement  may  be  summarized 
in  the  following  statements.  The  scientific  attitude  of 
mind  is  by  no  means  a  simple  attitude,  and  it  is  not  one 
which  is  readily  assumed  by  the  immature  thinker.  The 
interest  of  the  student  in  the  things  about  him,  which 
interest  it  was  assumed  would  prepare  him  for  science,  is, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  utterly  unscientific  and  so  far  from 
furnishing  the  basis  for  scientific  study  that  in  many  cases 
it  creates  a  prejudice  against  science.  While  science  has 
had  a  powerful  influence  on  industrial  development,  scien- 
tific thought  and  practical  skill  are  not  identical  forms  of 
mental  activity.  Indeed,  science  and  skill  are,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  most  diverse  aspects  of  mental  development.  It  is 
only  in  the  later  stages  of  the  two  that  they  are  brought 
into  productive  relation.  The  psychological  analysis  of 
science  teaching  ought  to  make  clear  the  reasons  for  the 
difficulties  just  mentioned  and  may  suggest  some  methods 
of  overcoming  these  difficulties. 

PRIMITIVE  SCIENCE 

Some  of  the  most  suggestive  psychological  studies  of 
science  are  those  which  deal  with  the  beginnings  of  scientific 
thought  among  primitive  peoples.  The  savage  personified 
everything  about  him.  If  he  heard  a  clap  of  thunder,  it 
suggested  to  him  the  idea  of  a  voice.  If  he  saw  the  force 
and  power  of  lightning,  he  thought  of  some  personal  agent 
behind  the  flash.  The  winds  and  waves  and  all  the  other 
activities  of  physical  nature  were  for  him  personal  forces. 
The  psychology  of  these  primitive  views  about  nature 
is  the  psychology  of  a  very  simple  kind  of  interpretation 
of  new  phenomena  by  familiar  formulas.  Man  saw  the 


SCIENCE  305 

phenomena  of  nature.  His  mind  tended  to  relate  what  he 
saw  with  the  personal  experiences  which  were  the  familiar 
facts  of  his  life.  The  most  familiar  part  of  the  world  was 
that  made  up  of  personal  emotions  and  ideas.  These  per- 
sonal attributes  he  carried  over  and  attached  to  the  phe- 
nomena of  nature. 

Not  only  was  the  association  of  ideas  thus  made  domi- 
nated by  personal  experience,  but  the  thinker  was  vaguely 
satisfied  with  any  combination  of  ideas  that  comes  into 
consciousness.  The  little  child  is  in  this  respect  like  primi- 
tive man ;  neither  one  thinks  of  the  difference  between 
a  true  explanation  and  a  mere  fiction.  In  fact,  if  the  fanci- 
ful explanation  is  full  of  people,  it  will  be  accepted  by  the 
immature  thinker  with  the  greatest  interest.  Little  children 
pass,  as  did  the  race,  through  a  period  of  personifying  every- 
thing. Dolls  and  hobbyhorses,  even  chairs  and  empty  rooms, 
take  on  personal  characteristics  and  furnish  the  child's  mind 
with  an  unbounded  opportunity  of  recombining  personal  ex- 
periences. The  reconstructed  personified  world  is  for  him 
just  as  real  as  the  world  of  sensory  colors  and  sounds. 

Another  way  of  stating  the  matter  is  to  say  that  both  the 
savage  and  the  child  feel  the  need  for  a  fuller  experience 
than  that  which  is  supplied  at  any  moment  by  the  senses. 
The  child  hears  a  voice,  and  is  impelled  by  his  desire  for 
a  fuller  experience  to  look  for  the  source  of  the  voice.  The 
child  sees  a  color,  and  tries  to  get  in  contact  with  the  object 
so  that  he  may  feel  its  hardness.  The  demand  for  a  fuller 
experience  is  thus  a  natural  expression  of  the  demand  of  an 
active  mind.  In  securing  fuller  experiences  the  child  and 
the  savage  unhesitatingly  supply  ideas  from  memory.  Many 
times,  rather  than  trouble  to  look  for  the  source  of  a  sound, 
one  thinks  he  knows  and  so  supplies  the  idea  needed  to 
make  the  experience  complete.  There  is,  of  course,  in  this 
supplying  of  elements  from  memory  the  largest  possibility 
of  error.  The  ideas  drawn  from  memory  follow'  the  laws 


306     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

of  the  inner  world,  and  it  is  not  probable  that  the  laws  of 
the  inner  world  will  always  agree  with  the  laws  of  external 
reality.  When,  for  example,  the  inner  world  follows  the 
principle  of  personification,  it  gets  so  much  out  of  harmony 
with  the  real  facts  of  the  physical  world  that  we  think  of 
savage  explanations  as  the  sheerest  fictions  of  inner  fancy. 
And  such  they  were.  It  was  long  generations  before  the 
mind  was  disciplined  to  carry  out  those  elaborate  and  care- 
fully guarded  forms  of  thought  which  constitute  modern 
science.  Science  began  with  uncritical  imaginings  and  has 
only  gradually  been  disciplined  into  forms  of  thought  in 
which  the  imaginings  are  brought  into  agreement  with 
nature  and  made  productive  for  the  control  of  nature. 

SCIENCE  BASED  ON  MOTIVES  OTHEE  THAN  PRACTICAL 

It  may  be  well  at  this  stage  of  the  discussion  to  dispose 
of  a  view  which  is  often  expressed  in  educational  literature. 
It  is  said  that  science  grew  up  as  the  handmaiden  of 
industry.  Nothing  could  be  more  untrue  than  this  view. 
Primitive  man  had  a  set  of  explanations  of  the  world 
which  was  immensely  more  elaborate  than  were  his  ideas 
in  industrial  matters.  He  used  the  stars  to  guide  his  ship 
or  his  caravan,  but  his  science  went  very  much  beyond  the 
study  of  the  positions  of  the  stars.  His  active  mind  peopled 
the  firmament  with  grotesque  monsters  whose  imagined 
shapes  bound  together  the  stars  in  constellations ;  and, 
pursuing  a  vain  hope,  he  sought  to  determine  his  own 
future  by  the  juxtaposition  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  To  say 
that  early  astronomy  was  a  handmaiden  of  the  art  of  navi- 
gation is  to  pervert  immeasurably  the  history  of  science. 

Again,  take  the  hunting  ceremonies  of  primitive  peoples. 
The  peoples  depended  on  game  for  their  food  and  became 
most  expert  in  the  tracking  of  animals.  The  modern  scientist 
can  learn-  from  his  unscientific  guide  the  most  interesting 


SCIENCE  307 

and  important  facts  out  of  which  to  formulate  a  science  of 
animal  life.  This  is  because  the  guide  has  much  practical 
information  and  uses  it  hi  tracking  game.  But  the  guide 
is,  in  his  own  science,  grotesquely  crude  and  uncritical.  The 
primitive  hunter,  when  he  sits  down  by  the  fire  after  the 
day's  hunt,  lets  his  imagination  have  free  rein.  Then 
the  prey  which  he  tracks  so  skillfully  during  the  day  takes 
on  all  sorts  of  personal  characteristics  and  goes  through 
all  kinds  of  unobserved  and  unobservable  performances. 
The  hunter  is  now  a  man  of  imagination.  He  is  cultivating 
the  powers  of  thought  which  some  day  will  mature  into  criti- 
cal science,  but  at  this  stage  he  is  limited  by  no  restraints  of 
mere  observation  and  by  no  disposition  to  collect  evidence 
before  he  enters  upon  the  formulation  of  theory. 

IDEAS  SHAPED  PRACTICE  RATHER  THAN  THE  REVERSE 

The  unrestrained  speculations  of  primitive  man  are  not 
turned  in  the  direction  of  science  by  any  effort  at  applica- 
tion. Indeed,  the  history  of  primitive  custom  shows  exactly 
the  reverse,  how  absurdly  man  shaped  his  practices  to  fit 
his  theory.  Think  of  the  practices  of  sacrifice  and  religious 
propitiation.  Primitive  society  put  its  members  through 
the  most  onerous  tasks  to  satisfy  needs  which  were  wholly 
of  the  imagination's  making.  The  history  of  these  practices 
is  to  our  modern  minds  like  a  fairy  tale.  They  are,  indeed, 
part  of  the  fantastic  world  which  man  made  in  his  own 
mind  and  substituted  for  the  world  of  his  senses.  To 
understand  primitive  customs  one  has  to  study  primitive 
myths.  Thought  was  not  controlled  by  practical  adjust- 
ments. Quite  the  contrary,  behavior  was  dominated  by 
fantastic  imagination. 


308     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

CRITICAL  THOUGHT  ARISES  FROM  SOCIAL  RELATIONS 

The  first  revisions  of  primitive  science  came  not  from 
the  efforts  to  reconcile  practical  behavior  and  thought,  but 
rather  from  the  clash  of  social  groups.  The  history  of  the 
Greeks  illustrates  this  in  a  very  striking  way.  The  various 
Greek  tribes  developed  elaborate  systems  of  mythology 
and  elaborate  systems  of  ceremonial  practices.  Each  tribe 
was  content  to  believe  its  own  myths  until  tribe  began 
to  come  into  intimate  relation  with  tribe.  Then  the  clash 
of  social  opinion  made  men  skeptical.  There  is  nothing 
more  jarring  to  one's  primitive  scientific  theories  than  to 
find  that  one  cannot  persuade  his  neighbor.  So  it  was  with 
the  Greek  thinkers.  At  first  each  developed  his  own  views 
without  restraint,  but  soon  he  met  some  one  who  had  evolved 
other  views.  Now  came  the  clash  of  wits  which  characterize 
that  period  of  Greek  skepticism  that  introduced  the  first 
great  constructive  period  of  Western  thought.  During  the 
period  of  skepticism  the  Greeks  learned  that  thought,  to  be 
productive,  must  be  critical  as  well  as  imaginative. 

Not  only  does  the  thought  of  a  whole  tribe  thus  progress 
through  social  conflicts  to  a  stage  where  criticism  checks 
and  organizes  imaginations,  but  there  appears  during  this 
social  checking  up  of  ideas  a  tendency  for  the  thoughts  of 
each  individual  to  become  more  systematic  and  internally 
coherent.  This  is  most  conspicuous  in  those  purely  myth- 
ological systems  such  as  the  system  of  the  Greek  gods 
and  goddesses.  The  system  gradually  cultivated  a  kind 
of  inner  coherence,  and  all  new  experiences  which  were 
allowed  place  in  the  system  were  made  to  conform  to  the 
general  scheme.  Indeed  we  find  that  the  hierarchy  of  gods 
was  made  to  conform  more  and  more  to  a  well-arranged 
human  state,  thus  revealing  not  only  system  but  a  system 
of  a  very  familiar  type. 


SCIENCE  309 

INTERNAL  CONSISTENCY  AS  A  LOGICAL  CRITERION 

Thus  the  first  principle  of  validity  arises  and  gets  a 
general  social  recognition.  Thinking  is  regarded  as  valid 
when  it  is  consistent  with  itself.  There  is  no  psychological 
demand  at  the  outset  for  conformity  with  any  external 
facts.  All  that  is  necessary  is  that  ideas  shall  not  contra- 
dict earlier  ideas. 

This  criterion  of  internal  consistency  is  the  one  which  is 
used  even  to-day  in  testing  much  of  our  scientific  thinking. 
If  the  geologist  has  a  theory  with  regard  to  the  formation 
of  the  earth's  surface  which  he  cannot  test  with  reference 
to  its  actual  agreement  with  external  facts,  he  offers  as 
evidence  of  the  validity  of  his  theory  the  criterion  that 
his  theory  includes  all  that  is  known  without  presenting 
any  internal  inconsistencies.  Indeed,  one  may  say  that  the 
whole  of  formal  logic  is  based  on  this  criterion  of  internal 
consistencies.  One  may  reason  validly  in  ngn-Euclidean 
geometry  where  his  assumptions  are  known  from  the  first 
to  be  actually  contrary  to  fact  as  observed.  One  may  be 
mistaken  in  his  premises  but  consistent  in  his  inferences. 
To  be  sure,  modern  science  has  developed  methods  of  test- 
ing premises  as  well  as  methods  of  testing  processes  of 
inference,  but  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  science  is,  in  its 
attitude  toward  the  criterion  of  consistency,  very  different 
from  the  so-called  practical  man.  The  man  of  science  is 
willing  to  go  through  a  long  and  laborious  comparison  of 
different  ideas  for  the  purpose  of  testing  their  internal 
coherency.  The  practical  man,  on  the  other  hand,  cuts 
short  this  comparison  of  ideas  and  resorts  to  the  practical 
test.  If  the  thing  works,  it  is  enough  for  him.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  does  not  work,  the  practical  man  casts  it  aside, 
whatever  may  be  its  scientific  probability.  The  scientist 
very  frequently  has  to  hold  to  the  validity  of  his  views, 
because  they  meet  the  criterion  of  internal  consistency,  for 


310     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

a  long  period  before  he  is  able  to  refine  the  instruments 
of  demonstration  far  enough  to  persuade  a  practical  man 
of  the  workableness  of  the  theory. 

There  is  so  wide  a  breach  between  practical  tests  of 
validity  and  the  demand  for  consistency  that  at  the  outset 
the  practical  tests  cut  no  figure.  Primitive  man  was  satis- 
fied when  his  stories  held  together,  quite  apart  from  their 
application  in  any  way  to  practical  life.  It  is  only  in  the 
latest  and  most  elaborate  stages  of  science  and  industry 
that  internal  consistency  and  practical  applicability  are  both 
recognized  as  equally  valid  methods  of  testing  thinking. 
It  is  only  when  these  two  entirely  different  attitudes  of 
mind  and  means  of  criticism  are  equally  applied  to  thought 
that  we  get  the  highest  productivity  of  thinking.  For  long 
generations  the  two  types  of  criticism  of  truth  were  sepa- 
rated from  each  other.  For  example,  the  medieval  theolo- 
gian cared  not  at  all  for  practical  applicability.  Many  a 
practical  ma.n  cares  not  at  all  about  theoretical  consisten- 
cies. It  is  only  the  modern  worker,  trained  in  applying 
science  to  industry,  who  can  see  the  importance  of  both 
criteria  of  validity. 

IMAGINATION  EECONSTRUCTS  ENVIRONMENT 

Another  way  of  stating  the  same  case  and  of  reviewing 
the  earlier  discussion  is  to  say  that  ideas  may  be  put  to- 
gether in  the  freest  possible  fashion.  For  primitive  man 
the  putting  together  of  ideas  was  itself  a  pleasure  quite 
apart  from  any  use  which  could  be  made  of  these  imagi- 
nations. The  same  is  true  in  the  personal  experience  of 
each  of  us.  We  all  get  pleasure  out  of  pure  imagination. 
We  build  castles  in  the  air  and  construct  in  thought  com- 
binations of  ideas  which  satisfy  our  desires.  It  is  much 
easier  to  satisfy  one's  desires  in  this  thought  world  than  in 
the  world  of  actual  reality.  Indeed,  so  free  is  the  thought 


SCIENCE  311 

world  from  agreement  with  external  things  that  very  fre- 
quently it  is  difficult  to  see  how  free  imaginations  come  to 
be  disciplined  into  service  in  a  world  where  men  live  and 
move  under  the  limitations  of  external  things.  It  is  not 
until  we  realize  that  the  ideas  which  one  puts  together 
freely  in  thought  are  capable  of  being  used  as  models  on 
the  pattern  of  which  to  rearrange  external  reality  that  we 
see  the  possibility  of  uniting  the  two  interests.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  human  life  that  man 
has  turned  upon  his  environment  and  has,  through  his  in- 
dustrial and  practical  arts,  remolded  the  environment  to 
fit  his  ideas.  Instead  of  changing  himself  to  fit  the  external 
conditions  of  climate,  as  did  the  animals  during  the  process 
of  organic  evolution,  man  has  gone  •  about  changing  the 
external  conditions  around  him  in  such  a  way  that  he 
has  freed  himself  from  the  necessity  of  changing  his  own 
physical  characteristics.  Anthropologists  have  long  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  physical  changes  which  man 
has  undergone  in  the  course  of  his  whole  history  are  rela- 
tively very  slight.  Man  of  to-day  is  not  different  in  size 
and  general  physical  equipment  from  man  when  he  first 
appeared  on  the  earth's  surface.  The  fact  is,  he  has  not 
been  progressing  physically  during  the  period  which  an- 
thropology has  studied.  When  we  study  his  behavior 
we  see  that  there  is  no  reason  why  he  should  change 
physically.  He  has  evolved  a  very  much  better  plan  of 
adaptation  to  his  environment.  He  now  reorganizes  his 
surroundings.  Instead  of  becoming  strong  in  his  own  arms 
and  legs  he  devises  mechanical  substitutes  *  for  his  own 
weakness.  Instead  of  learning  how  to  fight  the  animal 
kingdom  better,  he  takes  the  beasts  into  his  service  and 
domesticates  those  animals  which  will  be  of  use  to  him  in 
maintaining  his  own  life.  These  processes  of  mechanical 
invention  and  of  domestication  of  animals  have  been  made 
possible  through  the  fact  that  man  was  able  in  his  own 


312     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

thinking  to  rearrange  the  world  and  then  by  his  actions 
to  make  the  external  world  conform  to  the  world  which 
he  had  imagined. 

It  is  well,  therefore,  that  the  internal  world  of  imagi- 
nation should  be  freer  than  the  external  world  of  things. 
It  is  because  of  the  freedom  with  which  man  can  readjust 
his  inner  world  that  he  has  been  able  to  make  his  great 
strides  in  civilization.  In  this  inner  world  of  free  recombi- 
nation of  ideas  man  was  at  first  without  restraint  of  any 
kind.  Then  he  came  to  demand  internal  consistency.  All 
that  he  asked  of  his  ideas  at  the  beginning  was  that  they 
should  not  disagree  with  each  other.  During  this  early 
period  his  ideas  were  not  very  useful ;  indeed,  they  often 
misled  him.  Later  he  realized  the  advantage  that  would 
come  to  him  if  he  could  accomplish  in  the  external  world 
what  he  thought  of  in  the  world  of  ideas.  Then  he"  began 
to  try  and  test  his  imaginations  by  the  possibilities  of  reali- 
zation hi  the  external  world.  Now  a  new  type  of  thought 
was  created ;  namely,  experimental  research. 

CRITICAL  THINKING  LATE  IN  DEVELOPMENT 

Such  considerations  explain  how  the  transition  gradually 
takes  place  from  the  first  unsystematic  imaginings  of  primi: 
tive  man  to  the  critical,  systematic  thought  of  the  modern 
sciences.  How  slow  this  evolution  has  been  one  realizes 
when  he  remembers  that  not  until  the  most  modern  period 
has  science  come  to  be  the  dominant  mode  of  thought. 
Earlier  centuries  were  speculative,  theological,  romantic. 
Only  the  last  centuries  have  been  scientific.  We  should 
keep  in  mind  this  slow  development  of  science  when  we 
propose  a  course  for  the  school.  Can  children  learn  to  sub- 
stitute something  better  for  their  imaginations  about  the 
world  ?  Can  children  learn  the  lesson  of  self-criticism  ? 
Can  children  become  systematic  and  at  the  same  time 


SCIENCE  313 

learn  to  conform  their  systems  of  thinking  to  the  world 
of  physical  phenomena?  The  answer  suggested  by  the 
history  of  science  to  these  questions  is  not  encouraging. 
The  race  learned  scientific  modes  of  thought  very  late  and 
after  a  long  period  of  intellectual  struggle  in  which  error 
dominated.  How  then  shall  the  child  escape  some  of  these 
difficulties?  When  one  recalls  the  fact  that  experimental 
methods  are  among  the  latest  achievements  of  the  race, 
he  understands  in  a  measure  why  the  efforts  of  science 
teachers  to  introduce  experimental  methods  into  schools 
have  met  with  a  serious  rebuff. 

SPECIALIZATION  IN  SCIENCE 

If  we  turn  from  the  first  beginnings  of  science  and  con- 
sider some  of  the  later  periods  of  its  history,  we  shall  realize 
more  fully  another  cardinal  difficulty  in  promoting  scien- 
tific thought  and  teaching.  Science,  as  a  system  of  experi- 
ence, tends  to  become  highly  specialized.  This  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  individuals  who  pursue  one  system  of  ideas 
for  a  time  tend  to  become  limited  in  thought  and  action 
to  that  one  field  of  experience.  The  mind  is  narrow  in  its 
ranges  of  attention,  and,  whatever  may  be  the  possibilities 
of  extension  of  any  system  of  ideas,  the  tendency  in  the 
life  of  a  single  individual  is  to  narrow  all  experience  down 
to  a  single  type.  While  society  as  a  whole  may  be  inter- 
ested in  different  systems  of  ideas,  the  individual  tends  to 
become  a  specialist.  This  tendency  is  so  often  exemplified 
that  it  seems  unnecessary  to  offer  illustrations  in  support 
of  the  above  statement.  The  psychology  of  science  as  well 
as  of  industry  would,  however,  be  incomplete  without  great 
emphasis  on  this  principle. 

It  may  be  well,  therefore,  to  consider  one  of  the  strik- 
ing examples  of  specialization  which  appears  in  the  his- 
tory of  science.  The  science  of  chemistry  grew  out  of  a 


314    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

semipractical  and  general  interest.  Men  had  long  known 
the  metals  and  were  familiar  with  their  uses  and  with  many 
methods  of  treating  them  in  art  and  industry.  The  the- 
ory, which  we  now  know  to  be  a  pure  fiction  of  human 
desire,  that  baser  metals  can  be  turned  into  gold,  led  men 
to  make  trials  and  to  enter  into  the  most  elaborate  schemes 
in  order  to  make  Nature  conform  to  their  theory.  But 
Nature  was  stubborn,  and  as  men  worked  to  achieve  their 
desired  goal  they  became  more  and  more  conscious  of  the 
fact  that  Nature  follows  certain  laws  altogether  different 
from  those  which  human  speculation  had  planned.  The 
shock  of  disappointment  was  great,  and  some  of  those  who 
had  entered  upon  the  search  for  the  desired  power  to  change 
metals  gave  up  discouraged.  Others  became  absorbed  in  a 
wholly  new  quest.  Finding  that  Nature  has  her  own  laws, 
they  began  to  inquire  into  these  laws.  So  deeply  did  these 
searchers  after  Nature's  laws  become  immersed  in  their 
study  that  they  lost  contact  with  the  world  about  them. 
They  appear  in  history  as  a  group  of  men  devoted  to  a 
special  search.  They  cultivated  a  language  and  a  fraternity 
of  their  own.  They  did  not  ask  about  the  uses  which  could 
be  made  of  their  findings.  They  were  bent  only  on  enlarg- 
ing the  one  type  of  knowledge.  This  one  type  of  knowledge 
became  to  them  an  absolutely  engrossing  interest,  a  religion. 

SPECIALIZATION  DUE  TO  LIMITATIONS  OF  ATTENTION 

To  the  psychologist  who  reads  the  history  of  the  begin- 
nings and  the  later  development  of  chemistry  the  lesson  is 
clear.  The  human  mind  is  relatively  narrow  in  its  interests. 
Once  a  man  becomes  absorbed  in  a  certain  type  and  system 
of  thought,  he  has  no  attention  for  anything  outside  the 
sphere  of  this  one  dominant  interest.  One  needs  only  to 
go  into  any  modern  chemical  laboratory  to  find  descendants 
of  the  alchemists  buried  in  their  cult.  The  research  chemist 


SCIENCE  315 

turns  his  mind  to  the  task  of  determining  specific  gravities 
and  for  him  there  is  only  one  interest  in  life.  He  is  an 
example  of  the  narrow  scope  of  human  attention.  Such  a 
research  man  has  no  interest  in  industrial  applications.  He 
looks  upon  application  of  knowledge  as  a  distraction.  If 
one  is  to  discover  facts  and  the  laws  of  chemical  behavior 
of  substances,  he  must  think  of  these,  and  only  these,  day 
and  night.  When  society  at  large  looks  in  upon  such  a 
devotee  of  science  at  his  work,  it  turns  away  with  an  un- 
canny feeling  that  he  has  ceased  to  be  a  part  of  the  normal 
human  group.  Most  men  have  limits  of  attention  that  are 
narrower  than  those  of  the  research  student,  but  the  com- 
mon narrowness  of  ordinary  men  seems  broader  because 
the  ordinary  man  flits  from  problem  to  problem  and  gains 
in  breadth  of  objects  touched  by  scattering  his  limited 
powers  in  many  directions.  The  research  student  holds 
to  one  group  of  facts  and  so  stands  forth  convicted  of 
human  narrowness. 

DANGERS  OF  SPECIALIZATION 

The  growth  of  specialization  in  modern  civilization  is 
one  of  the  drawbacks  of  a  highly  scientific  age.  The  physi- 
cist of  to-day  is  likely  to  think  slightingly  of  his  fellows  who 
work  in  botany  and  zoology.  New  sciences  are  always 
received  with  coldness.  For  example,  the  science  of  psy- 
chology is  so  different  from  the  natural  sciences  in  method 
and  material  that  it  has  made  its  way  slowly  against  the 
critical  skepticism  of  these  older  sciences.  The  antithesis 
between  applied  science  and  theoretical  science  is  sometimes 
emphasized  to  the  point  of  bitterness.  The  only  salvation 
in  the  situation  is  that  society  as  a  whole  overcomes  some 
of  the  narrowness  of  its  individual  members.  The  chem- 
ical researcher  is  supplemented  by  the  practical  man  who 
dyes  cloth  and  tans  leather  and  makes  sugar.  Society  is 


316     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

gradually  evolving  special  agencies  to  help  her  in  overcom- 
ing the  narrowness  of  specialists.  She  is  evolving  specialists 
whose  business  it  is  to  bring  to  narrow-minded  practical 
workers  the  results  of  the  researches  of  narrow-minded 
students  of  science.  These  middlemen  are  sometimes  un- 
able to  get  the  sympathy  of  either  group  whose  efforts  they 
are  trying  to  unify.  Society  needs  the  student  of  applied 
chemistry,  however,  and  will  doubtless  be  able  to  support 
him  until  his  place  in  the  scheme  of  human  effort  becomes 
established. 

The  narrowness  of  specialization  in  the  sciences  is  the 
source  of  one  of  the  gravest  problems  of  the  modern  school. 
How  shall  the  student  be  put  in  contact  with  science  and 
be  shown  the  meaning  of  scientific  method  when  the  typical 
attitude  of  the  scientist  is  narrow  devotion  to  a  single 
limited  field?  The  high-school  course  of  study  of  to-day 
shows  how  difficult  is  the  answer.  Shall  there  be  short  highly 
specialized  science  courses  giving  the  student  glimpses  into 
each  of  the  great  divisions  of  science  ?  Shall  there  be 
courses  giving  a  few  sample  problems  and  solutions  from 
biology  and  a  like  number  from  physics  ?  Shall  the  student 
be  given  results,  being  told  in  the  easiest  possible  way 
what  science  has  learned,  or  shall  he  be  brought  into  the 
laboratory  and  guided  in  the  discovery?  Shall  he  elect 
science  after  he  finds  out  from  his  reading  or  through  his 
endeavor  to  keep  up  with  modern  practical  life  that  science 
would  give  him  the  typical  modern  view  of  the  world,  or 
shall  he  be  required  for  the  good  of  his  soul  to  take  some 
science  whether  he  has  learned  to  want  it  or  not?  Shall 
high-school  science  be  exact  and  in  its  most  final  form,  full 
of  mathematical  statements  and  rigid  and  complete  in  its 
demonstrations,  or  shall  it  aim  to  persuade  the  immature 
student  to  look  at  the  world  in  a  critical  and  systematic 
way  ?  Shall  we  teach  applications  in  the  first  stages  of 
science,  thus  reversing  the  history  of  science,  or  shall  we 


SCIENCE  317 

wait  for  applications  until  science  is  mature  ?  These  and  a 
hundred  other  questions  are  difficult  to  answer  because 
those  in  charge  of  science  courses  are  narrow-minded  like 
all  human  beings. 

THE  NEED  OF  GENERAL  STUDIES  OF  EDUCATIONAL 
SITUATIONS 

How  narrow  science  makes  one  was  illustrated  in  the 
writer's  hearing  by  a  colleague  who  described  the  require- 
ments which  a  certain  university  department  of  physics  was 
attempting  to  enforce  upon  graduates  of  that  institution 
who  wanted  to  secure  recommendations  to  teach  physics. 
The  department  wanted  all  intending  teachers  of  physics 
in  high  schools  to  take  three  fifths  of  their  courses  in  that 
department.  It  can  be  shown,  and  was  shown  in  the  case 
in  question,  that  in  no  high  school  in  that  state  could  a 
teacher  be  found  who  taught  physics  alone.  Physics,  then, 
was  only  part  of  the  rational  preparation  of  the  prospective 
teacher.  Suppose  the  second  subject  to  be  a  science.  There 
would  be  no  adequate  margin  in  the  student's  course  for 
training  on  a  like  scale  even  in  this  second  subject,  to  say 
nothing  about  the  general  courses  in  literature  and  history 
which  it  is  commonly  thought  a  student  should  pursue. 

THE  NEED  OF  A  GENERAL  CURRICULUM  OF  SCIENCE 
COURSES 

Another  symptom  of  the  limitation  of  the  ordinary 
scientist's  horizon  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  after  all  these 
years  no  one  has  devised  a  high-school  course  which  ex- 
tends through  a  period  of  four  years.  Do  the  science 
people  realize  the  enormous  disadvantage  to  their  subjects 
which  results  from  their  absorption  in  their  specialties  to 
such  an  extent  that  they  cannot  get  together  and  agree  as 


318    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 


to  the  advice  which  should  be  given  to  students  about  the 
proper  sequence  of  science  courses  ?  The  following  table, 
compiled  by  Professor  Caldwell  from  statistics  given  by 
G.  W.  Hunter,1  shows  the  present  chaotic  state  of  the  art 
of  teaching  science. 

SUMMARY  MADE  FROM  TWO  HUNDRED  AND  SEVENTY-SIX 

SCHOOLS 


FIRST 
YEAR 

SECOND 
YEAR 

THIRD 
YEAR 

FOURTH 
YEAR 

76 

94 

26 

29 

General  Biology     

36 

23 

7 

7 

Human  Physiology    

105 

34 

21 

33 

General  Science     

9 

0 

0 

0 

Physical  Geography  

94 

49 

6 

17 

27 

84 

24 

15 

Physics  

13 

25 

148 

90 

Chemistry  

o 

8 

94 

146 

Astronomy  and  Geology    

0 

0 

8 

23 

GENERAL  SCIENCE  AS  AN  INTRODUCTORY  COURSE 

One  suggestion  which  has  been  offered  with  reference 
especially  to  the  first-year  course  is  that  a  composite  gen- 
eral course  be  organized  including  material  from  various 
special  sciences.  To  be  sure,  the  onlooker  sees  evidences 
of  specialization  even  in  these  general  courses.  One  of  the 
general  courses  is  based  on  physics  and  another  on  biol- 
ogy. The  scientist  has  his  specialty  as  his  .chief  topic  of 
attention  even  when  he  tries  to  be  general.  These  courses 
in  general  science,  whatever  may  be  their  virtues,  are  con- 
demned by  most  specialists  as  unscientific,  and  they  are 
found  by  administrative  officers  to  be  difficult  to  keep  alive 
because  the  supply  of  teachers  of  such  courses  seems  to 
be  short. 

1  School  Science  and  Mathematics,  Vol.  X,  1910,  p.  3. 


SCIENCE  319 

A  STUDY  OF  CHILDREN'S  SCIENTIFIC  INTERESTS 

The  organization  of  other  courses  for  various  years  has 
also  been  dominated  very  largely  by  the  supposed  interests 
of  the  science  itself.  Is  it  not  time  that  scientific  studies 
of  the  mental  processes  of  students  be  substituted  for  a 
too  absorbing  devotion  to  scientific  studies  of  physics  and 
botany  ?  One  such  study,  made  by  Mr.  Finley,1  although 
it  dealt  with  the  interests  of  children  in  the  elementary 
school,  may  be  reported  as  furnishing  the  clearest  evidence 
that  there  are  successive  stages  of  development  in  scientific 
interest.  In  the  investigation  in  question  objects  were  ex- 
hibited to  children  in  the  different  grades  of  the  elementary 
school  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the  type  and  distribu- 
tion of  their  interests.  In  the  first  part  of  the  experiment 
the  children  were  shown  a  water  animal,  and  their  interests 
were  tested  by  the  questions  they  asked.  In  the  second 
part  of  the  experiment  a  plant  and  an  animal  were  exhib- 
ited and  a  simple  physical  apparatus  was  demonstrated, 
and  the  interest  was  measured  by  the  choice  made  by  the 
children  later  of  a  subject  on  which  to  write. 

Two  striking  facts  came  out  of  the  investigation.  First, 
there  is  a  radical  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  children  as 
we  pass  upward  through  the  grades.  In  the  earlier  grades 
the  interests  of  the  children  can  be  described  as  centered 
on  mere  identification  or  on  purely  personal  relations.  The 
questions  asked  were  such  as  these :  "  What  is  it  ?  "  "  May 
I  touch  it  ?  "  "  Will  it  bite  ?  "  Obviously  these  questions 
are  not  scientific  at  all.  There  is  no  interest  indicated  in 
them  in  a  critical  study  of  the  structure  or  function  of  the 
thing  itself.  There  is  only  a  crude,  personal  interest  mani- 
fested as  the  earliest  type  of  interest  which  children  have 
in  the  world  about  them.  In  the  later  grades  evidence 

1  Unpublished  Master's  Thesis  in  the  Department  of  Education,  The 
University  of  Chicago. 


320     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

began  to  appear  of  interest  in  the  structure  of  the  animal 
and  in  its  life  history.  This  higher  type  of  interest  had 
been  fostered  in  the  school  by  nature  study,  so  that  even 
here  it  may  be  that  the  apparent  interest  of  the  children 
in  structure  and  function  was  an  expression  rather  of  the 
results  of  instruction  than  of  a  natural  and  spontane- 
ous interest  in  these  aspects  of  reality.  At  all  events, 
whether  induced  by  the  classroom  work  or  by  the -natural 
growth  of  the  child's  experience,  we  have  evidence  here 
of  a  change  from  an  earlier  unscientific  attitude  to  a  later 
scientific  attitude. 

•  In  the  second  place,  it  became  apparent  that  different 
classes  of  facts  commanded  the  interest  of  children  in  dif- 
ferent degrees.  It  has  usually  been  assumed  in  discussing 
children's  interest  that  they  will  early  and  spontaneously 
turn  to  the  scientific  study  of  animals.  We  all  know  that 
children  are  interested  in  animals,  and  the  inference  has 
often  been  uncritically  drawn  that  all  interest  is  scientific 
interest.  It  is  only  later,  we  are  told  in  the  older  books  on 
education  and  in  the  prefaces  to  nature-study  books,  that 
children  can  be  interested  in  objects  which  are  inanimate 
or  do  not  move.  Now  it  appears  from  the  investigation 
that  some  children  are  very  much  interested  in  simple  me- 
chanical phenomena.  They  comprehend  such  facts  very 
much  more  readily  than  they  comprehend  the  structure 
and  function  of  animals.  In  this  particular  experiment 
one  of  the  lower  classes  showed  an  overwhelming  interest 
in  the  pendulum,  and  some  of  them  preferred  the  plant  to 
the  animal.  With  these  facts  before  us  we  must  explain  the 
universal  interest  of  children  in  animals  as  unscientific. 
They  are  interested  in  animals  because  animals  have  so 
many  characteristics  which  the  child  recognizes  as  personal 
characteristics.  It  is  so  easy  to  personify  an  animal  that 
the  child  begins  in  the  early  stages  of  experience  by  feeling 
a  very  large  sympathy  for  the  animal,  and  just  because  of 


SCIENCE  321 

this  close  personal  friendliness,  he  is  far  from  desiring  any 
structural  or  functional  knowledge  about  it.  If  one  points 
to  the  history  of  science,  he  can  easily  show  that  man 
studies  last  his  own  bodily  structure  and  only  in  the  latest 
stages  of  scientific  development  did  he  study  animals.  All 
of  the  biological  sciences  are  very  recent  sciences  so  far  as 
the  race  is  concerned,  and  that  for  exactly  the  same  reason 
that  the  scientific  study  of  biological  facts  is  very  much 
more  difficult  for  the  child  than  the  study  of  simple 
mechanical  devices. 


A  second  investigation  which  has  much  to  contribute  to 
the  psychology  of  science  is  one  in  which  Mr.  F.  C.  Ayer l 
has  studied  the  usefulness  of  drawing  as  a  means  of  instruc- 
tion in  science  courses.  It  is  commonly  assumed  that  repre- 
sentative drawings  ought  to  constitute  a  very  large  part  of 
a  course  in  science.  Since  laboratory  notebooks  came  to  be 
regarded  as  necessary,  one  finds  a  demand  frequently  reiter- 
ated that  students  make  sketches  in  these  books.  The  atten- 
tion of  Mr.  Ayer  was  drawn  to  this  problem  through  two 
sets  of  considerations.  In  the  first  place,  it  did  not  appear 
on  superficial  examination  of  the  standings  of  students  that 
those  who  can  draw  best  are  the  best  students  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  teacher  of  science.  In  the  second 
place,  it  was  evident  from  the  psychologist's  point  of  view 
that  drawing  calls  for  types  of  training  and  interest  by  no 
means  identical  with  those  required  for  science.  Mr.  Ayer 
was  led,  therefore,  to  make  a  more  rigid  comparison,  and 
it  appeared  that  his  skepticism  with  regard"  to  the  relation 

1  Unpublished  studies  in  the  Department  of  Education,  The  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago.  See  also  L.  de  Boisbaudran,  The  Training  of  the 
Memory  in  Art.  The  Macmillan  Company,  1911. 


322    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

between  drawing  and  science  was  entirely  justified.  It 
appeared  that  there  is  very  little  correlation  between  the 
ability  to  draw  and  the  standing  of  the  student  either  in 
science  or  in  his  general  courses.  He  found  that  the  student 
may  pay  the  strictest  attention  to  the  aspects  of  an  object 
necessary  for  correct  representative  drawing  without  becom- 
ing conscious  of  the  scientific  import  of  the  same  details. 
Furthermore,  it  did  not  appear  that  improvement  in  science 
and  improvement  in  drawing  go  hand  in  hand.  The  student 
who  shows  an  increasing  degree  of  efficiency  in  science  may 
remain  entirely  static  at  a  low  level  of  ability  to  draw. 
Conversely,  the  person  who  improves  in  his  ability  to  draw 
does  not  necessarily  show  any  improvement  in  his  science 
work.  This  negative  result  must,  however,  be  paralleled  by 
a  positive  statement  regarding  the  relation  between  draw- 
ing and  science  work.  Mr.  Ayer  was  able  to  show  on  the 
positive  side  that  the  ability  to  make  a  sketch  wliich  points 
out  in  careful  analytical  detail  those  characteristics  of  an 
object  which  are  of  importance  for  the  purposes  of  scientific 
explanation  develops  in  parallel  with  the  development  of 
scientific  thought  itself.  Thus,  if  we  are  studying  the 
habits  of  a  bird  and  it  is  desirable  that  we  should  know 
something  about  the  type  of  food  which  the  bird  lives  on, 
we  may  with  propriety  ask  the  student  to  make  a  drawing 
which  will  show  the  function  of  the  bird's  beak.  If  we 
wish  to  find  out  in  what  kind  of  an  environment  the  bird 
lives,  it  is  desirable  that  the  student  should  make  such 
sketches  of  the  bird's  feet  and  of  its  plumage  as  will  show 
the  relation  of  these  structures  to  environment.  Thus  the 
study  of  drawing  confirms  the  conclusion  that  it  is  very  de- 
sirable that  students  should  be  able  to  analyze  the  objects 
which  they  are  studying. 

Analytical  drawing  as  distinguished  from  mere  making 
of  pictures  seems,  therefore,  to  be  the  solution  of  our  prob- 
lem. One  may  say  that  scientific  analysis  must  always  have 


SCIENCE  323 

a  definite  motive.  Attention  on  the  part  of  a  student  can- 
not be  too  widely  distributed  over  the  object  as  a  whole, 
if  he  is  to  be  a  good  scientist.  Furthermore,  he  must  not 
be  left  to  be  guided  merely  by  his  accidental  appreciation 
of  this  or  that  element  of  form.  The  student  who  is  to  use 
an  object  for  scientific  study  must  be  guided  by  a  definite 
principle  of  selection  and  analysis.  He  must  look  at  the 
object  with  a  view  to  finding  out  exactly  how  far  the 
characteristics  of  this  object  are  related  to  the  one  problem 
which  he  is  at  that  moment  trying  to  solve.  Scientific  draw- 
ing thus  appears  to  be  guided  thought;  science  helps  the 
student  to  distinguish  from  the  mass  of  elements  of  experi- 
ence those  elements  which  are  significant  from  a  particular 
point  of  view.  In  a  certain  sense  of  the  word  scientific 
thought  is  thus  seen  to  be  narrow  and  limited.  One  turns 
away  from  the  general  characteristics  of  the  situation  to  the 
particular  characteristics  and  is  guided  in  this  specialization 
by  definite  principles  and  interests. 

We  have  already  seen  that  there  are  ample  evidences  for 
the  statement  that  science  is  highly  specialized.  So  also  in 
this  matter  of  scientific  drawing  or  sketching  we  see  that 
it  is  specialized  sketching  which  is  of  value.  Only  after 
the  student  has  worked  out  each  of  the  details  of  an  object 
from  some  particular  scientific  point  of  view  can  he  come 
back  to  the  more  comprehensive  and  general  problem  of 
fitting  these  details  together  in  one  comprehensive  study 
of  the  whole.  A  comprehensive  study  of  the  whole  situa- 
tion or  a  synthetic  study  of  the  object  is,  therefore,  one 
of  the  very  late  products  of  scientific  thought.  Analysis 
or  specialization  naturally  precedes  the  later  grasp  of  the 
object  as  a  whole.  The  experiments  reviewed  in  an  earlier 
chapter,  where  an  example  was  given  of  the  development 
of  an  individual  recognition  of  a  figure,  illustrate  this 
principle  very  clearly. 


324     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

SCIENCE  MUST  UNIFY  EXPERIENCE 

The  synthetic  mental  processes  by  which  science  attempts 
to  build  up  in  the  minds  of  students  a  complete  idea  of  the 
world  are  quite  as  important  for  psychology  as  the  analytic 
processes  which  have  just  been  discussed. 

PRIMITIVE  EFFORTS  AT  UNIFICATION 

Again  an  illustration  from  primitive  science  will  help  us. 
The  Greeks  saw  a  part  of  the  relations  of  the  earth  to  the 
sun ;  they  observed  the  sun  travel  from  day  to  day  across 
the  sky  and  they  tried  to  formulate  some  idea  of  the  way 
in  which  this  could  happen.  To  their  minds  the  largest  and 
most  powerful  instrument  of  movement  was  a  horse  and 
chariot.  Consequently,  they  gave  the  sun*  in  their  thought 
all  of  the  machinery  of  movement  across  the  heavens  that 
their  imagination  could  devise,  and  the  form  of  this  imagined 
means  of  movement  was  a  chariot  with  horses.  We  regard 
this  idea  of  the  Greeks  as  very  crude.  All  of  their  stories 
about  how  the  horses  ran  away,  and  about  the  coming  of 
the  sun  down  toward  the  earth  and  scorching  the  desert, 
seem  to  us  to  be  very  childish  —  because  the  imagery  is 
wholly  inadequate,  and  is  so  obviously  inadequate  that 
then*  satisfaction  with  it  causes  us  no  end  of  wonder  at 
their  simplicity  of  mind. 

In  the  same  way  we  often  find  that  the  explanations  of 
facts  offered  by  children  are  picturesque,  but  ridiculous. 
What  is  inside  of  a  mechanical  toy,  for  example  ?  Since 
the  child  does  not  know  anything  about  mechanics,  he  is 
very  likely  to  think  that  there  is  some  person  or  some  ani- 
mal inside.  This  simple  explanation  is  merely  the  effort  of 
the  child  to  get  an  idea  which  will  fill  out  his  experience. 
He  will  be  disappointed  when  he  opens  up  the  toy  and  finds 
nothing  of  the  kind.  Indeed,  the  astonishment  with  which 


SCIENCE  325 

he  will  be  filled  when  he  comes  in  contact  with  the  real  facts 
of  the  case  is  comparable  to  the  reluctance  exhibited  by  the 
race  to  substitute  mechanical  forces  for  the  agencies  that 
they  originally  assumed  for  all  sorts  of  natural  phenomena. 

UNIFICATION  THROUGH  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF 
SYSTEMS  OF  IDEAS 

In  view  of  this  difficulty  of  supplying  children  with  ade- 
quate systems  of  ideas,  we  find  much  of  our  modern  science 
instruction  engrossed  in  the  task  of  filling  the  minds  of 
children  with  the  right  kind  of  supplementary  ideas.  One 
sees  elaborate  models  of  mechanical  principles  and  of  phys- 
iological organs.  These  models  are  constructed  in  the  effort 
to  give  children  proper  systems  of  ideas. 

One  of  the  best  lessons  that  the  writer  ever  heard  in 
physics  illustrates  admirably  what  is  needed  in  order  to 
introduce  elementary  students  to  some  adequate  notion  of 
physical  forces.  The  lesson  in  question  was  a  lesson  on  the 
transmission  of  heat.  The  instructor  began  by  furnishing 
the  students  with  the  imagery  necessary  to  enable  them  to 
picture  to  themselves  the  molecules  and  their  relations.  He 
asked  them  if  they  had  ever  noticed  the  way  in  which  bricks 
are  carried  in  the  construction  of  a  building  from  the  sup- 
ply to  the  point  where  they  are  to  be  used.  By  questioning 
the  class  he  brought  out  the  fact  that  there  are  at  least  two 
entirely  different  ways  in  which  the  bricks  may  thus  be  car- 
ried. In  one  case  a  line  of  workmen  is  formed  and  the 
bricks  are  passed  directly  from  one  to  the  other  along  the 
line.  In  the  second  case  one  workman  takes  a  hodful  of 
bricks  and  goes  the  whole  distance.  With  this  analogy  in 
mind,  he  gave  some  simple  demonstrations  to  show  that  in 
some  cases  the  heat  which  is  applied  to  substances,  such  as 
iron,  is  passed  along  rapidly  from  molecule  to  molecule. 
This  is  analogous  to  the  action  of  the  line  of  workmen  who 


326     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

pass  the  bricks  from  man  to  man.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
the  case  of  water  there  is  no  rapid  transmission  of  heat  from 
molecule  to  molecule,  but  heat  must  be  carried  by  a  change 
in  the  position  of  the  heated  water  particles.  He  gave  a 
demonstration  to  show  that  if  water  is  heated,  there  is  a  ten- 
dency for  its  particles  to  take  their  load  of  heat  and  move 
to  a  new  position.  They  do  not,  in  this  case,  pass  the  heat 
to  other  molecules  directly,  but  they  keep  the  load  of  heat 
and  move  about,  thus  giving  the  phenomena  of  convection. 
In  general,  molecular  phenomena  are  much  more  abstract 
for  students  than  are  the  mechanical  phenomena  treated  in 
the  first  chapter  of  physics.  Put  into  psychological  terms, 
this  statement  means  that  students  have  great  difficulty  in 
forming  coherent  systems  of  ideas  about  molecules,  while 
they  can  more  readily  think  their  way  through  the  mechan- 
ical processes,  which  are  more  open  to  direct  observation. 
The  effect  of  this  greater  difficulty  in  understanding  mo- 
lecular phenomena  is  that  in  American  high  schools  very 
little  attention  is  given  to  chemistry  and  to  those  forms  of 
physical  phenomena  which  are  chiefly  molecular.  In  Euro- 
pean schools,  where  one  of  the  guiding  motives  for  the  in- 
troduction of  science  has  been  the  practical  application  of 
these  sciences  to  industry,  more  attention  has  been  given 
to  chemistry  than  in  this  country.  Foreign  visitors  in  our 
secondary  schools  are  very  much  surprised  to  find  that  we 
do  not  have  special  courses  that  are  centered  around  the 
chemistry  of  industry.  The  common  practice  here  is  un- 
doubtedly due  to  the  psychological  difficulty  of  teaching 
an  abstract  subject. 

FORMALISM  ENCOURAGED  BY  ABSTRACT  INSTRUCTION 

The  abstract  character  of  much  science  further  results  in 
the  student's  giving  up  the  effort  to  acquire  a  real  system 
of  ideas ;  he  resorts  to  the  easier  method  of  learning  the 


SCIENCE  327 

sentences  given  him  in  his  text.  The  difficulty  in  such 
cases  is  that  the  student  never  gets  an  independent  mastery 
of  the  methods  of  science,  and  merely  follows  the  verbal 
formulas  of  some  scientist  who  has  turned  observation  into 
verbal  description  and  verbal  formulas.  Words  are  not  to 
be  condemned  as  unscientific.  Indeed,  science  could  not 
develop  without  these  essential  aids  to  abstract  thought. 
The  trouble  is  that  where  finished  verbal  formulas  are  sub- 
stituted in  'the  mind  of  a  student  for  systems  of  ideas, 
science  is  subordinated  to  words  rather  than  aided  by  them. 
The  grave  problem  which  confronts  the  science  teacher  is 
the  problem  of  making  sure  that  the  student  shall  learn 
how  to  guide  himself  in  critical  thought  even  when  he  must 
deal  with  abstractions  and  words. 

COURSES  risr  CONSTRUCTION  NOT  INHERENTLY 
SCIENTIFIC 

One  of  the  suggestions  which  has  been  offered  is  that  the 
student  can  be  made  scientific  if  he  is  confronted  with  con- 
structive problems.  Let  him  feel  the  desire  to  do  something, 
and  he  will  learn  to  use  his  mind  in  satisfying  his  desire. 
He  will  be  driven  to  thinking.  Sometimes  the  explicit 
statement  is  made  that  scientific  investigations  grow,  of 
necessity,  out  of  practical  situations.  The  introduction  of 
practical  arts  is  accordingly  offered  as  the  solution  of  the 
educational  problem.  Put  a  boy  in  the  workshop  at  the  task 
of  making  something,  and  he  will  discover  that  he  needs  to 
know  how  to  use  a  ruler.  He  needs  to  know,  also,  some- 
thing about  the  science  of  mechanics.  Stimulated  by  these 
practical  necessities,  he  will  turn  eagerly  to  the  study  of 
mathematics  and  physics.  Enough  has  been  shown  in  con- 
nection with  the  study  of  the  history  of  the  sciences  to  make 
it  clear  that  this  is  an  unfounded  doctrine.  Practical  in- 
dustry does  not  automatically  arouse  the  scientific  attitude 


328     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

as  its  natural  consequence.  Anyone  who  is  confronted  with 
the  desire  to  make  something  is  likely  to  resort  to  the 
crudest  means  if  he  is  not  trained  beforehand  to  adopt  more 
scientific  methods.  Instead  of  studying  science  and  math- 
ematics, the  boy  who  wants  to  make  something  usually 
patches  together  a  very  crude  device,  expending  as  little 
time  and  energy  as  possible  on  consideration.  Furthermore, 
the  ordinary  attitude  of  mind  is  one  in  which  desire  for 
practical  results  often  fails  to  arouse  even  the  crudest 
activities.  All  of  us  would  be  very  glad  indeed  to  have 
devices  around  the  house  which  would  satisfy  our  needs, 
but  we  give  up  without  even  attempting  to  think  of  the 
ways  in  which  these  problems  could  be  solved.  In  short, 
there  are  many  needs  which  are  really  urgent  but  are 
entirely  ignored  by  even  the  most  practical  men. 

PROBLEMS  MUST  BE  INTELLECTUALLY  APPREHENDED 

Perhaps  one  of  the  best  illustrations  of  this  fact  is  to 
be  found  in  the  unintelligent  way  in  which  many  commu- 
nities ignore  their  really  urgent  needs  for  improvement 
of  sanitary  conditions.  Savage  tribes  encountered  a  great 
many  inconveniences  and  often  diseases  because  of  the 
lack  of  sanitary  conditions  in  their  villages.  Modern  cities 
in  the  tropics  have  frequently  suffered  seriously  because  of 
lack  of  appreciation  of  the  needs  of  sanitation.  Most  children 
have  a  natural  neglect  of  dirt  that  has  to  be  eradicated 
by  artificial  training.  In  other  words,  the  importance  of 
keeping  clean  and  the  importance  of  sanitary  measures  have 
to  be  learned  through  a  study  of  the  situation.  A  community 
has  to  be  persuaded  that  it  has  this  sanitary  problem  before 
it  will  adopt  measures  to  relieve  itself  of  the  inconveniences 
and  dangers  that  come  from  ignoring  its  problem. 

Primitive  man  had  need  of  mechanical  devices,  but  he 
had  not  the  remotest  imagination  of  the  possibilities  of 


SCIENCE  329 

machinery.  Slowly  he  progressed  by  very  short  steps  from 
the  natural  weapons  which  he  picked  from  the  ground  to  a 
modification  of  these,  in  the  direction  of  greater  usefulness 
and  greater  convenience.  Slowly  he  learned,  usually  through 
social  comparisons,  that  there  are  possibilities  of  securing 
better  tools  and  better  instruments  of  warfare.  Still  more 
slowly  he  learned  that  thought  about  the  mechanical  prin- 
ciples which  he  employs  will  facilitate  the  development  of 
more  elaborate  and  perfect  tools.  As  the  outcome  of  this 
very  gradual  development  man  is  now  keen  about  his  needs 
and  about  the  possibility  of  applying  science  to  the  solution 
of  these  needs ;  but  the  situation  which  has  thus  resulted 
from  long  experience  can  in  no  proper  sense  of  the  word  be 
described  as  a  natural  or  spontaneous  interest  in  science. 
The  problems  which  man  has  discovered  are  not  natural 
problems  which  force  their  attention  upon  the  ignorant  or 
the  inattentive.  One  must  learn  to  see  the  problems  about 
him.  One  must  have  a  certain  stock  of  problems  and  their 
solution  in  mind,  as  examples,  before  he  will  realize  that  the 
problem-seeking  attitude  is  a  productive  attitude  of  mind. 
The  ordinary  member  of  society  does  not  seek  problems  of 
social  reform.  He  does  not  seek  problems  of  personal  im- 
provement. He  does  not  seek  problems  in  the  world  of  vege- 
table and  animal  life  about  him.  He  simply  goes  through 
the  world  adjusting  himself  in  a  crude  and  inadequate  way 
to  the  various  experiences  with  which  he  comes  in  contact. 

SCIENCE  DEVELOPS  ONLY  WHEN  PROBLEMS  ARE 
UNDERSTOOD 

The  scientific  specialist  knows  that  there  are  problems  in 
a  certain  sphere  of  reality,  but  he  is  not  likely  to  be  keen 
about  problems  in  other  directions.  After  one  has  examined 
minutely  the  structure  of  a  certain  set  of  animals  or  plants 
he  sees  familiar  problems  whenever  he  encounters  a  related 


330     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

plant  or  animal.  The  zoologist  and  botanist,  therefore,  are 
always  prepared  to  raise  questions  in  the  sphere  in  which 
they  have  had  some  experience.  The  man  who  is  interested 
in  politics  or  government  sees  the  problems  in  that  sphere 
of  life,  but  he  does  not  see  the  problems  of  the  zoologist  or 
botanist.  He  cannot  understand  how  anyone  will  devote  to 
the  structure  of  animals  and  plants  the  amount  of  time 
and  enthusiasm  that  the  zoologist  and  botanist  are  ready  to 
bestow  upon  the  facts  in  which  they  are  interested.  The 
teacher  sees  problems  related  to  school  organization  which 
the  community  cannot  understand  at  all.  The  student  of 
architecture  sees  problems  in  every  house  which  he  passes, 
while  the  ordinary  observer  fails  utterly  to  realize  what  it 
is  that  absorbs  the  architect. 

In  all  these  cases  the  first  stage  in  cultivating  the  attitude 
of  mind  which  is  to  be  defined  as  scientific  is  that  of  discov- 
ering problems  rather  than  that  of  seeking  solutions.  In 
the  same  way,  the  business  of  the  high-school  course  of 
science  consists  not  merely  in  giving  the  solution  of  prob- 
lems; it  consists  rather  in  stimulating  the  student  to  see 
that  there  are  problems  to  be  solved.  The  difficulty  with 
most  of  the  science  textbooks  and  with  much  of  the  labora- 
tory work  is  that  the  effort  of  the  teacher  is  devoted  to  giv- 
ing the  student  results.  Science  in  its  completed  form  is  a 
statement  of  solutions  of  problems.  Science  in  the  personal 
form  in  which  the  student  needs  to  acquire  it  consists  in 
the  stating  of  problems  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  the  student 
an  appreciation  of  the  reason  why  anybody  should  try  to 
work  at  the  subject.  There  is  nothing  more  fatal  to  mental 
life  than  the  learning  of  solutions  of  problems  which  are 
wholly  artificial  to  the  student  and  not  appreciated  by  him 
as  having  any  significance  either  for  himself  or  for  society. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  one  can  get  a  student  to  see  that  the 
facts  of  life  ought  to  arouse  his  curiosity,  a  very  large  part 
of  the  difficulty  in  science  teaching  disappears. 


SCIENCE  331 

STKANGE  FACTS  MAKE  PROBLEMS  EASY  TO  RECOGNIZE 

It  is  sometimes  suggested  that  science  ought  to  begin 
with  the  study  of  familiar  facts.  Psychologically  it  is  very 
difficult  to  see  a  problem  in  a  familiar  fact.  It  was  pointed 
out  in  connection  with  the  study  of  the  manual  arts  that  an 
analysis  of  a  familiar  situation  is  difficult  just  because  of  its 
familiarity.  The  same  general  fact  was  referred  to  in  con- 
nection with  the  discussion  of  language  teaching.  It  is  very 
difficult  to  get  students  to  think  about  their  mother  tongue 
in  any  such  way  as  to  arouse  an  interest  in  the  structure 
of  the  language.  It  is  much  simpler  to  get  a  person  in- 
terested* in  a  foreign  language  and  to  get  him  to  discuss 
this  language  from  the  point  of  view  of  its  structure  and 
vocabulary.  In  short,  it  is  the  unfamiliar  which  presents 
obvious  problems.  One  finds  a  concession  to  this  natural 
psychological  attitude  in  some  of  the  supplementary  read- 
ers on  science  which  are  put  into  the  hands  of  students. 
Remote  problems  of  a  type  which  are  utterly  unfamiliar  to 
the  student's  ordinary  experience  are  offered  in  these  books 
as  the  most  stimulating  body  of  material  with  which  to  in- 
terest the  student  in  scientific  investigations.  Strange  plants 
and  animals  are  described,  and  their  modes  of  life  pointed 
out,  as  the  means  of  drawing  the  attention  of  the  student 
to  the  fact  that  plants  and  animals  have  peculiarities  which 
need  to  be  studied.  One  can  frequently  interest  a  student 
in  mechanical  devices  by  referring  to  some  new  and  elabo- 
rate and,  on  the  whole,  mysterious  mechanical  contrivance. 
It  has  been  found  relatively  easy,  for  example,  to  interest 
boys  and  older  people  in  wireless  telegraphy,  because  that 
is  a  new  invention  and  difficult  to  explain  and  understand. 
One  hardly  feels  the  necessity  of  interesting  himself  par- 
ticularly in  an  ordinary  telephone,  because  it  is  so  familiar. 
An  appeal  to  the  relatively  strange  is  undoubtedly  legiti- 
mate as  an  introduction  to  science. 


332     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

ULTIMATELY  THE  STUDENT  MUST  DISCOVER  PROBLEMS 
IN  FAMILIAR  FACTS 

On  the  other  hand,  a  continual  diet  of  strange  and  won- 
derful things  distorts  the  student's  attitude  toward  science 
in  such  an  extreme  way  that  there  is  danger  of  leaving  in 
his  mind  the  impression  that  all  science  deals  with  strange 
and  remote  objects.  One  of  the  criticisms  of  ordinary  news- 
paper science  is  that  it  leaves  in  the  popular  mind  the  im- 
pression that  science  is  full  of  extraordinary  and  mysterious 
problems  and  solutions.  It  would  be  very  difficult  to  get 
any  newspaper  to  publish  some  of  the  ordinary  facts  with 
regard  to  the  atmosphere  or  with  regard  to  the  common 
principles  of  mechanics.  There  is  no  difficulty  in  getting  a 
hearing  for  an  account  of  some  remarkable  manifestation  of 
atmospheric  conditions  or  a  description  of  a  new  and  doubt- 
ful application  of  mechanics.  Indeed,  the  more  doubtful 
the  veracity  of  the  inventor  in  reporting  his  invention,  the 
more  likely  is  his  story  to  get  a  hearing  in  the  public  mind. 
The  teacher  in  the  high  school  must,  therefore,  be  on  his 
guard  not  to  stimulate  the  student  with  this  foreign  and 
strange  material  to  such  an  extent  that  he  will  get  the  im- 
pression that  science  always  relates  to  the  remarkable  and 
the  remote.  The  student  must  be  led  to  see  that  every 
object  about  him  has  characteristics  which  ought  to  arouse 
his  inquiring  mind  to  a  scientific  study. 

APPLICATIONS  OF  SCIENCE  CONSTITUTE  A  SPECIAL 
PHASE  OF  STUDY 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  ordinary  textbook  on  science 
and  the  ordinary  class  instruction  fail  lamentably  in  apply- 
ing science  and  the  scientific  attitude  to  the  ordinary  facts 
of  experience.  It  requires  very  skillful  teaching  to  utilize 
physics  for  the  ordinary  facts  of  life.  Although  we  are  in 


SCIENCE  333 

the  midst  of  mechanical  appliances  of  all  sorts  we  over- 
look them  so  readily  that  the  ordinary  student  does  not  see 
physics  as  a  practical  science ;  he  learns  it  rather  as  a  body 
of  remote  and  abstract  principles.  The  abstractness  of  the 
material  is  greatly  increased  by  the  selection  of  experimental 
material  which  has  to  do  with  interests  that  are  ordinarily 
very  far  from  the  student's  life.  This  is  nowhere  better  illus- 
trated than  in  the  physical  experiments  which  are  offered 
as  a  means  of  instruction  to  girls.  It  has  been  pointed  out 
repeatedly  that  the  ordinary  examples  used  in  a  textbook 
in  physics  are  drawn  from  the  industries  that  are  open  to 
boys  and  men  rather  than  from  the  domestic  surroundings 
which  are  familiar  to  girls.  The  result  is  that  the  course  of 
physics  in  the  ordinary  high  school,  if  made  elective,  is  usu- 
ally taken  chiefly  by  the  boys.  The  girls,  trained  through 
their  elementary  courses  and  through  the  ordinary  influ- 
ences of  the  home  to  disregard  mechanical  devices  as  lying 
outside  of  the  sphere  of  woman's  ordinary  activities,  look 
upon  physics  as  a  further  expression  of  the  male  interest 
in  mechanics  and  forget  that  all  of  the  commonplace  facts 
of  ordinary  life  can  be  illuminated  by  a  study  of  physical 
sciences.  It  would  be  very  much  better  to  begin  a  study 
of  physics  for  girls  by  taking  up  some  such  problems  as 
those  of  heat  and  color.  To  be  sure,  these  are  somewhat 
more  abstract  than  are  the  laws  of  motion,  but  we  shall 
ultimately  recognize  that  the  chief  business  of  science, 
whatever  its  subject  matter,  is  to  train  students  to  see  prob- 
lems. When  we  have  comprehended  this  general  principle 
we  shall  undoubtedly  find  that  many  of  the  sciences  will 
have  to  be  recast.  The  final  form  which  these  sciences 
assume  for  pedagogical  purposes  will  not  be  the  form  in 
which  the  sciences  are  most  satisfactory  to  the  mind  of  the 
trained  scientist,  We  must  find  the  means  of  arousing  in 
students  the  problem-seeking  and  the  problem-solving  atti- 
tude. We  cannot  depend  on  ordinary  life  to  cultivate  either 


334    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

\ 

one  of  these  attitudes.  We  must  discover  devices  which 
will  arouse  the  problem-seeking  attitude,  and  we  must  then 
focus  this  attitude  upon  the  commonplace  surroundings 
of  the  students. 


TEXTBOOKS  PRESENT  RESULTS  BATHER  THAN 
PROBLEMS 

Illustrations  of  what  has  been  said  in  the  foregoing  para- 
graphs can  be  taken  from  any  one  of  the  science  books. 
Most  science  textbooks  can  be  criticized  by  drawing  atten- 
tion, to  the  fact  noted  above  that  these  books  are  chiefly 
concerned  with  the  statements  of  results.  Usually  the  most 
general  results  are  put  near  the  beginning  of  the  textbook. 
A  textbook  in  physics  begins  by  telling  about  molecules 
and  the  constitution  of  matter  or  by  giving  some  of  the 
most  compactly  formulated  statements  about  the  principles 
of  mechanics.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  trained  scien- 
tist this  seems  to  be  the  surest  way  of  introducing  a  termi- 
nology which  shall  be  available  for  the  statement  of  his 
science.  His  conception  of  the  science  is  that  it  must  fol- 
low the  logical  arrangement  of  the  results  of  this  science. 

Again,  let  us  take  a  textbook  in  physical  geography  as 
an  example.  We  find  that  such  a  book  begins  with  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  form  of  the  earth.  One  of  these  texts  begins 
as  follows:  "On  September  6,  1522,  a  little  company  of 
weather-beaten  sailors  brought  their  vessel  to  rest  in  a 
Spanish  port.  Three  years  before,  Magellan  had  led  them 
forth,  with  a  fleet  of  five  ships,  to  find  the  Spice  Islands 
by  a  western  route,"  and  so  on.  We  have  a  description  of 
the  fact  that  the  earth  can  be  circumnavigated.  The  next 
paragraph  takes  up  latitude  and  longitude  and  discusses 
the  earth  from  that  point  of  view.  The  third  paragraph 
deals  with  the  earth  within  and  without.  This  paragraph 
begins  as  follows :  "  No  one  knows  much  about  the  inside 


SCIENCE  335 

of  our  globe.  Yet  most  of  its  bulk  and  weight  are  far 
within  the  surface,  and  geography,  which  looks  at  the  earth 
as  a  whole,  must  take  notice  of  it."  We  then  have  some 
discussion  of  strata  of  rocks  and  of  the  internal  structure 
of  the  earth's  crust.  The  fifth  paragraph  deals  with  land 
and  water ;  the  sixth  deals  with  volcanoes ;  and  so  on. 

Doubtless  the  authors  of  such  a  book  as  this  realized  to 
the  full  the  importance  of  getting  before  the  student  some 
general  conception  of  what  their  science  is  about.  The 
authors,  knowing  the  importance  of  this  general  conception 
of  the  earth  as  a  whole,  began  by  trying  to  give  the  stu- 
dent the  ripest  and  most  complete  product  of  all  their  sci- 
entific inquiry  in  the  first  few  pages.  The  trouble  is,  the 
student  who  comes  to  this  science  sees  absolutely  no  reason 
why  one  should  be  so  absorbed  in  a  study  of  the  earth  as  a 
whole.  The  student  very  seldom  has  any  real  interest  in 
the  internal  anatomy  of  the  earth.  He  might  wonder  in  a 
general  way  what  is  there,  but  he  certainly  is  not  prepared 
to  exercise  his  mind  very  vigorously  on  this  inquiry.  The 
scientist  who  is  enthusiastic  about  some  discovery  regard- 
ing volcanoes  assumes  that  every  student  who  hears  about  a 
volcano  will  instantly  want  to  know  exactly  how  the  earth 
behaves  at  these  points ;  but  the  fact  is  that  the  student 
is  usually  quite  complacent,  knowing  that  somewhere  in 
the  world  a  scientist  will  furnish  him  with  the  explanation 
of  these  facts  if  he  needs  it,  and,  furthermore,  he  feels 
that  the  probabilities  are  in  favor  of  his  never  needing  the 
information  at  all. 

The  degree  of  enthusiasm  of  the  ordinary  student  for 
these  introductions  which  he  gets  in  the  textbooks  is  very 
slight  indeed.  Take  textbooks  on  botany  as  another  ex- 
ample. One  well-known  book  on  this  subject  opens  with  a 
paragraph  on  the  inorganic  world,  contrasted  in  the  next 
paragraph  with  the  organic  world.  Then  follow  para- 
graphs on  "  the  difference  between  plants  and  animals," 


336     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

a  definition  of  botany,  and  a  full  description  of  the  dif- 
ferent subdivisions  of  physiology.  Chapter  II  opens  with 
a  paragraph  on  "  the  course  of  vegetation,"  and  so  on. 
The  student,  confronted  by  these  verbal  additions  to  his 
experience,  gets  into  the  habit  of  thinking  of  science  as 
verbal  additions  to  experience,  and  he  faithfully  learns  the 
words  and  keeps  them  in  store  against  the  time  when  the 
teacher  demands  them. 

ABSTRACT  STATEMENTS  OF  RESULTS 

If  it  is  objected  that  this  kind  of  a  text  is  antiquated, 
let  us  take  one  now  in  common  use.  In  its  "  elementary  " 
edition  it  begins  with  protoplasm.  It  then  tells  the  student 
about  spirogyra,  mucor,  nitella,  and  the  rest.  The  student 
is  left  to  interest  himself  as  best  he  can  in  these  results 
of  science.  The  instructor  is  at  the  end  of  the  course  in 
science ;  the  student  is  at  the  beginning,  and  yet  the  order 
of  presentation  is  that  which  is  appropriate  to  the  teacher's 
mature  knowledge  rather  than  to  the  student's  immature 
state.  Furthermore,  these  results  of  science  come  in  the 
easy  form  of  words.  The  student  suddenly  inherits  a 
wealth  of  results  without  any  effort  on  his  own  part  be- 
yond that  which  is  necessary  to  read  words.  The  trouble 
is  that  he  has  no  appreciation  of  all  this  that  is  lavished 
on  him.  Science,  from  society's  point  of  view,  is  a  rich 
body  of  results.  The  scientific  attitude  which  ought  to  be 
cultivated  in  the  student  is  an  inquiring  attitude  of  mind 
full  of  problems,  not  solutions. 

Teachers  wonder  sometimes  why  students  develop  an  in- 
terest in  science  so  slowly.  The  lack  of  interest  is  hardly 
to  be  wondered  at  when  one  has  canvassed  a  few  of  the 
textbooks  and  sees  how  the  first  chapters  are  always  very 
general,  dealing  with  the  results  of  the  science  and  giving 
none  of  the  reasons  why  the  science  should  be  developed. 


SCIENCE  337 

It  would  be  difficult  for  the  psychologist  to  improve 
upon  the  efforts  of  the  science  people  themselves,  and  it 
would  be  presumptuous  to  make  any  recommendations  if  it 
were  not  for  the  obvious  failure  of  the  current  science  text- 
books to  meet  the  needs  of  school  courses.  As  has  been 
pointed  out  time  and  time  again,  the  present  courses  in 
science  are  under  such  constant  criticism  by  the  scientists 
themselves  that  any  suggestion  of  relief  will  doubtless  get 
a  hearing  if  not  a  respectful  acceptance. 

INSTRUCTION  SHOULD  PRESENT  PROBLEMS 

Would  it  not  be  well  to  begin  the  discussion  of  a  science 
in  any  one  of  the  books  by  a  concrete,  particular  problem 
as  distinguished  from  the  usual  general  results  ?  Let  us 
assume  that  the  concrete,  particular  problem  is  approached 
at  first  in  a  wholly  unscientific  way.  Let  it  be  described  from 
the  historical  point  of  view,  explaining  the  interest  which 
man  has  cultivated,  or  let  it  be  approached  from  the  point 
of  view  of  its  unusual  characteristics.  For  example,  in 
ordinary  conversation  the  layman  finds  that  the  botanist 
has  a  body  of  information  about  the  wheat  plant  which 
is  so  interesting  that  he  wonders  why  this  has  not  been 
put  in  the  first  chapter  of  some  botany  textbook.  The 
answer  of  the  scientist  is,  of  course,  that  the  wheat  plant 
is  by  no  means  a  suitable  object  for  an  introductory  study. 
It  does  not  exhibit  the  organs  of  a  plant  in  that  form  which 
makes  it  easy  to  base  upon  it  a  later  analysis  of  other  plants 
and  their  organs.  The  attitude  of  the  psychologist  and  the 
layman  in  science  is  that  the  textbooks  which  begin  with 
the  forms  of  plant  life  that  are  easy  to  expound  do  not 
seem  to  have  succeeded,  after  many  years,  in  arousing 
high-school  students  to  a  satisfactory  pitch  of  enthusiasm 
for  botany.  Why  not,  for  the  sake  of  experiment,  try  some- 
thing new  ? 


338     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

LABORATORY  METHOD  OF  INSTRUCTION 

No  study  of  science  courses  would  be  complete  without 
full  recognition  of  the  enormous  contribution  which  has 
been  made  to  the  intellectual  life  of  students  by  the  intro- 
duction of  laboratory  courses.  Scarcely  a  generation  has 
passed  since  laboratory  exercises  were  first  introduced  into 
the  high-school  curriculum,  and  in  this  short  period  their 
usefulness  as  instruments  of  instruction  has  been  so  com- 
pletely demonstrated  that  any  new  method  in  the  humanities 
as  well  as  in  the  sciences  needs  only  to  call  itself  a  labora- 
tory method  to  be  sure  of  a  respectful  hearing.  A  well- 
organized  laboratory  exercise  does  for  the  student  much 
that  the  general  textbook,  overfull  of  results,  fails  to  do. 
The  laboratory  exercise  confronts  the  student  with  a  prob- 
lem ;  it  leaves  him  to  work  out  the  solution ;  it  gives  him 
an  opportunity  to  verify  his  judgments.  It  is  concrete ;  it 
shows  by  many  of  its  obvious,  external  characteristics  its 
relation  to  ordinary  life. 

How,  then,  can  the  laboratory  method  ever  fail  ?  The 
answer  to  this  question  is  implied  in  the  directions  offered 
by  one  experienced  teacher  in  his  chapter  on  Instruction 
in  the  Laboratory. l  The  directions  much  abbreviated  are 
as  follows: 

First,  the  object  of  the  experiment  must  be  definitely  stated. 
. . .  Second,  the  apparatus  must  be  lucidly  described.  . . .  Third, 
a  minute  and  practical  description  of  the  materials  must  be 
given.  . . .  Fourth,  the  handling  of  the  material  and  apparatus 
must  be  made  clear. . . .  Fifth,  the  point  at  which  a  pertinent 
observation  may  be  made  should  be  indicated.  . . .  Sixth,  some 
indication  is  necessary  as  to  what  is  to  be  observed.  . . .  Finally, 
definite  questions  should  be  asked  in  regard  to  the  interpreta- 
.tion  of  what  has  been  observed. 

1  A.  Smith  and  E.  H.  Hall,  The  Teaching  of  Chemistry  and  Physics  in 
Secondary  Schools,  chap.  iv.  Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1910. 


SCIENCE  339 

PSYCHOLOGY  OF  LABORATORY  EXERCISES 

Put  into  psychological  terms  these  directions  mean  some- 
thing like  this:  The  laboratory  situation  is  usually  too 
complex  for  the  immature  student  to  master  if  left  to  his 
own  devices.  The  experience  of  the  race  must  be  focused 
for  him  on  this  complex  situation.  He  must  be  led  by  a 
short  path  to  the  productive  conclusion  which  science  has 
reached  as  its  final  result.  Unless  the  guidance  of  the  race 
is  given  to  the  student,  he  will  wander  and  either  come  to 
the  goal  far  too  slowly  or  not  at  all. 

Laboratory  exercises  are  among  the  most  difficult  prob- 
lems for  the  teacher  to  work  out.  The  student  must  be 
guided  enough,  but  not  too  much.  The  student  must  be 
called  on  to  find  out  for  himself,  but  he  must  not  be  left 
to  become  confused.  The  business  of  the  teacher  is  to  help 
the  student  reach  a  result,  but  at  the  same  time  to  make 
sure  that  the  student  has  used  the  right  methods  in  reach- 
ing the  result.  The  problem  is  therefore  to  find  a  proper 
balance  between  instruction  and  independence. 

Here,  as  in  other  school  exercises  which  are  properly 
organized,  the  contrast  between  an  educational  situation 
and  a  situation  in  the  practical  world  can  be  described  by 
saying  that  the  school  simplifies  the  situation  for  the  time 
being  in  order  that  the  student  who  is  limited  in  his  capa- 
bilities may  cope  with  this  simplified  group  of  conditions. 
Little  by  little  the  school  must  lead  the  student  forward 
through  more  and  more  complex  situations  until  finally  he 
is  able  to  cope  with  the  natural  environment  in  all  of  its 
complexity.  The  problem  of  the  school  is  so  to  simplify  the 
educational  exercise  that  it  shall  train  the  student  without 
making  him  unable  or  afraid  to  face  complexities.  The 
danger  in  these  exercises  is  that  they  will  become  quite  as 
formal  and  ineffective  as  the  recitations  which  they  were 
intended  to  supplement. 


340     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

PEABSON  ON  SCIENTIFIC  METHOD 

There  is  one  final  matter  to  be  discussed  in  this  study 
of  the  psychology  of  science.  It  is  the  nature  of  that  high- 
est product  of  scientific  education,  scientific  method.  Every 
teacher  of  science  hopes  to  inculcate  into  his  students  re- 
spect for  methods  of  exact,  impersonal,  and  comprehensive 
thinking.  These  methods  have  often  been  declared  to  be 
the  most  significant  contribution  of  our  age  to  the  history 
of  civilization. 

What,  then,  is  the  nature  of  scientific  method?  An  answer 
to  this  question  may  be  sought  first  in  a  series  of  quotations 
from  the  writing  of  Karl  Pearson.1 

The  classification  of  facts  and  the  formation  of  absolute 
judgments  upon  the  basis  of  this  classification  — judgments 
independent  of  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the  individual  mind  —  is 
peculiarly  the  scope  and  method  of  modern  science.  The  scien- 
tific man  has  above  all  things  to  aim  at  self-elimination  in  his 
judgments,  to  provide  an  argument  which  is  as  true  for  each 
individual  mind  as  for  his  own.  The  classification  of  facts,  the 
recognition  of  their  sequence  and  relative  significance  is  the 
function  of  science,  and  the  habit  of  forming  a  judgment  upon 
these  facts  unbiased  by  personal  feeling  is  characteristic  of 
what  we  shall  term  the  scientific  frame  of  mind.  (P.  7.) 

The  insight  into  method  and  the  habit  of  dispassionate  in- 
vestigation which  follow  from  acquaintance  with  the  scientific 
classification  of  even  some  small  range  of  natural  facts,  give 
the  mind  an  invaluable  power  of  dealing  with  many  other  classes 
of  facts  as  the  occasion  arises.  The  patient  and  persistent  study 
of  some  one  branch  of  natural  science  is  even  at  the  present 
time  within  the  reach  of  many.  In  some  branches  a  few  hours' 
study  a  week,  if  carried  on  earnestly  for  two  or  three  years, 
would  be  not  only  sufficient  to  give  a  thorough  insight  into 
scientific  method,  but  would  also  enable  the  student  to  become 

a  careful  observer  and  possibly  an  original  investigator  in  his 

• 

1  The  Grammar  of  Science.    Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1892. 


SCIENCE  341 

chosen  field,  thus  adding  a  new  delight  and  a  new  enthusiasm 
to  his  life.  The  importance  of  a  just  appreciation  of  scientific 
method  is  so  great,  that  I  think  the  state  may  be  reasonably 
called  upon  to  place  instruction  in  pure  science  within  the 
reach  of  all  its  citizens.  (P.  8.) 

SCIENCE  DEPENDS  ON  IMAGINATION 

But,  none  the  less,  disciplined  imagination  has  been  at  the 
bottom  of  all  great  scientific  discoveries.  All  great  scientists 
have,  in  a  certain  sense,  been  great  artists ;  the  man  with  no 
imagination  may  collect  facts,  but  he  cannot  make  great  dis- 
coveries. If  I  were  compelled  to  name  the  Englishmen  who 
during  our  generation  have  had  the  widest  imaginations  and 
exercised  them  most  beneficially,  I  think  I  should  put  the 
novelists  and  poets  on  one  side  and  say  Michael  Faraday  and 
Charles  Darwin.  Now  it  is  very  needful  to  understand  the 
exact  part  imagination  plays  in  pure  science.  We  can,  perhaps, 
best  achieve  this  result  by  considering  the  following  proposi- 
tion :  Pure  science  has  a  further  strong  claim  upon  us  on  ac- 
count of  the  exercise  it  gives  to  the  imaginative  faculties  and 
the  gratification  it  provides  for  the  aesthetic  judgment.  The 
exact  meaning  of  the  terms  "scientific  fact"  and  "scientific 
law  "  will  be  considered  in  later  chapters,  but  for  the  present 
let  us  suppose  an  elaborate  classification  of  such  facts  has  been 
made,  and  their  relationships  and  sequences  carefully  traced. 
What  is  the  next  stage  in  the  process  of  scientific  investiga- 
tion ?  Undoubtedly  it  is  the  use  of  the  imagination.  The 
discovery  of  some  single  statement,  some  brief  formula  from 
which  the  whole  group  of  facts  is  seen  to  flow,  is  the  work 
not  of  the  mere  cataloguer,  but  of  the  man  endowed  with 
creative  imagination.  The  single  statement,  the  brief  formula, 
the  words  of  which  replace  in  our  minds  a  wide  range  of 
relationships  between  isolated  phenomena,  is  what  we  term  a 
scientific  law.  Such  a  law,  relieving  our  memory  from  the 
burden  of  individual  sequences,  enables  us,  with  the  minimum 
of  intellectual  fatigue,  to  grasp  a  vast  complexity  of  natural 
or  social  phenomena.  The  discovery  of  law  is  therefore  the 
peculiar  function  of  the  creative  imagination.  (P.  37.) 


342     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

The  scientific  method  is  marked  by  the  following  features : 
(a)  careful  and  accurate  classification  of  facts  and  observation 
of  their  correlation  and  sequence ;  (&)  the  discovery  of  scientific 
laws  by  aid  of  the  creative  imagination ;  (c)  self-criticism  and 
the  final  touchstone  of  equal  validity  for  all  normally  constituted 
minds.  (P.  45.) 

SCIENTIFIC  LAW  A  PRODUCT  OF  INTELLIGENCE 

The  other  problem  with  which  we  are  concerned  is  the 
existence  or  non-existence  of  a  scientific  law  before  it  has 
been  postulated.  Here  the  reader  will  feel  inclined  to  remark: 
"Admitted  that  'Nature'  is  conditioned  by  man's  perceptive 
faculty,  surely  the  sequences  of  man's  perceptions  follow  the 
same  law  vhether  man  has  formulated  that  law  in  words  or 
not  ?  The  law  of  gravitation  ruled  the  motion  of  the  planets 
ages  before  Newton  was  born."  Yes  and  no,  reader;  the  an- 
swer must  depend  on  how  we  define- our  terms.  The  sequences 
involved  in  man's  perception  of  the  motion  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  were  doubtless  much  the  same  to  Ptolemy  and  Newton ; 
to  primitive  man  and  to  ourselves  the  motion  of  the  sun  is  a 
common  perception,  but  a  sequence  of  sense-impressions  is  not 
in  itself  a  law.  That  planets  move,  that  a  chick  takes  its  origin 
from  the  egg,  may  be  sequences  of  sense-impressions,  they  may 
be  facts  to  be  dealt  with  scientifically,  but  they  are  not  laws 
in  themselves,  at  least  not  in  any  useful  interpretation  of  the 
word.  The  changes  of  the  whole  planetary  system  might  be 
perceived,  and  even  those  perceptions  translated  into  words 
with  a  fulness  surpassing  that  of  our  most  accurate  modern 
observer,  and  yet  neither  the  sequence  of  perceptions  in  itself 
nor  the  description  involve  the  existence  of  any  law.  The  se- 
quence of  perceptions  has  to  be  compared  with  other  sequences, 
classification  and  generalization  have  to  follow;  conceptions 
and  ideas,  pure  products  of  the  mind,  must  be  formed,  before 
a  description  can  be  given  of  a  range  of  sequences  which,  by 
its  conciseness  and  comprehensiveness,  is  worthy  of  the  name 
of  scientific  law. 

Let  it  be  noted  that  in  this  it  is  not  only  the  process  of 
reaching  scientific  law  which  is  mental,  but  that  the  law 


SCIENCE  343 

itself  when  reached  involves  an  association  of  natural  facts  or 
phenomena  with  mental  conceptions,  lying  quite  outside  the 
particular  field  of  those  phenomena.  Without  the  mental  con- 
ceptions the  law  could  not  be,  and  it  only  comes  into  existence 
when  these  mental  conceptions  are  first  associated  with  the 
phenomena.  The  law  of  gravitation  is  not  so  much  the  dis- 
covery by  Newton  of  a  rule  guiding  the  motion  of  the  planets 
as  his  invention  of  a  method  of  briefly  describing  the  sequences 
of  sense-impressions,  which  we  term  planetary  motion.  He 
did  this  in  terms  of  a  purely  mental  conception,  namely,  mutual 
acceleration.  Newton  first  brought  the  idea  of  mutual  acceler- 
ation of  a  certain  type  into  association  with  a  certain  range  of 
phenomena,  and  was  thus  enabled  to  state  a  formula,  which, 
by  what  we  may  term  mental  shorthand,  resumes  a  vast  number 
of  observed  sequences.  The  statement  of  this  formula  was  not 
so  much  the  discovery  as  the  creation  of  the  law  of  gravitation. 
A  natural  law  is  thus  seen  to  be  a  resume  in  mental  shorthand, 
which  replaces  for  us  a  lengthy  description  of  the  sequences 
among  our  sense-impressions.  Law  in  the  scientific  sense  is 
thus  essentially  a  product  of.  the  human  mind  and  has  no 
meaning  apart  from  man.  It  owes  its  existence  to  the  creative 
power  of  his  intellect.  There  is  more  meaning  in  the  statement 
that  man  gives  laws  to  Nature  than  in  its  converse  that  Nature 
gives  laws  to  man.  (P.  102.) 

The  essential  conclusion  which  can  be  drawn  from  the 
psychological  analysis  of  these  statements  is  that  science 
is  quite  as  much  a  product  of  human  characteristics  and 
capacities  as  of  the  characteristics  of  things.  The  human 
power  of  reducing  all  objects  to  namable  classes  through 
the  use  of  language  is  as  important  in  explaining  scien- 
tific classification  as  is  the  existence  of  objects  themselves. 
Animals  have  no  science.  Their  minds  in  contact  with  im- 
pressions from  the  outer  world  react  in  a  way  wholly  dif- 
ferent from  that  in  which  human  beings  react.  Savages 
have  a  crude  mythology,  but  no  rigid  scientific  methods. 
They  have  no  adequate  scientific  terminology.  In  short, 
their  reactions  are  unscientific. 


344    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

SCIENCE  DEPENDS  ON  THE  POWER  OF  GENERALIZATION 

To  the  student  of  educational  problems  these  considera- 
tions are  important  because  they  make  it  clear  that  science 
is  something  more  than  mere  reception  of  sense-impressions. 
Science  is  a  system  of  thought.  Science  is  a  body  of  gen- 
eralizations. To  construct  this  system  of  thought  and  these 
generalizations,  is  a  step  in  intellectual  development  be- 
yond the  mere  acquisition  of  the  impressions  out  of  which 
science  may  grow. 

We  shall  come  back  in  a  later  chapter  to  the  problem 
of  the  generalization  of  experience.  This  problem  has  come 
up  several  times  before  in  our  discussions.  It  is  one  of  the 
major  problems  of  education.  Each  subject  in  the  curricu- 
lum seeks  to  develop  the  power  of  generalization  in  some 
way ;  and  science,  in  making  this  its  chief  aim,  is  not  de- 
parting in  any  measure  from  the  traditions  of  the  course  of 
study  as  this  course  has  always  been  organized  by  strong 
teachers,  whatever  the  content  with  which  they  have  worked. 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  FINE  AKTS 

OPPOSITION  BETWEEN  THE  FlNE  ARTS  AND  THE 
CONVENTIONAL  COURSES 

The  fine  arts,  like  the  manual  and  industrial  arts,  have 
stood  apart  from  the  conventional  academic  subjects  and 
have  been  given  only  a  half-hearted  recognition  in  the 
organization  of  school  programs.  From  one  point  of  view 
this  is  difficult  to  understand,  for  civilized  nations  have 
always  regarded  training  in  music  and  drawing  as  highly 
desirable  accomplishments.  We  in  America  have  been  sub- 
jected to  criticism  by  foreign  visitors  and  we  have  freely 
criticized  ourselves  for  our  meager  cultivation  of  the  fine 
arts  in  our  schools.  While  thus  recognizing  the  arts  as  de- 
sirable, we  have  found  it  a  very  difficult  problem  to  make 
them  available  for  school  purposes.  How  can  one  formu- 
late a  course  in  these  subjects  ?  They  seem  to  be  highly  in- 
dividualistic and  vague  in  their  results.  There  seems  to  be 
so  large  an  element  of  chance  in  the  outcome  that  we  turn 
by  preference  to  those  courses  of  instruction  which  seem 
to  be  more  definite  and  capable  of  impersonal  formulation. 

The  psychology  of  the  fine  arts  helps  to  explain  in  a  meas- 
ure this  situation.  The  arts,  like  literary  appreciation,  de- 
pend in  large  measure  on  certain  inner  reactions  which  are 
obscure  and  often  unrecognized  by  student  and  teacher. 
The  external  acts  which  are  cultivated  when  one  acquires 
some  skill  in  one  of  the  arts  sink  into  insignificance  as  com- 
pared with  the  inner  emotional  processes  involved  in  appre- 
ciation. These  inner  reactions  are  extraordinarily  difficult 

345 


346     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

to  control  and  train.  A  part  of  the  vagueness  of  the  arts 
also  grows  out  of  a  lack  of  analysis  comparable  to  the 
lack  of  analysis  which  we  found  in  studying  manual  habits. 
When  one  enjoys  a  painting  it  is  very  difficult  for  him  to 
tell  why  he  enjoys  it.  When  one  feels  a  thrill  in  response 
to  music  he  does  not  make  the  kind  of  analysis  that  he 
does  when  he  distinguishes  the  parts  of  a  plant  in  botany 
or  the  organs  of  an  animal  in  physiology.  The  arts  train 
in  a  type  of  analysis  which  we  shall  understand  more  fully 
as  we  proceed  with  the  discussion ;  but  this  analysis  is  dif- 
ferent in  character  from  verbal  analysis,  and  the  school  fa- 
miliar with  scientific  and  verbal  analysis  has  great  difficulty 
in  taking  up  the  problem  of  art  analysis. 

HISTORICAL  BEGINNINGS  OF  Music 

We  shall  gain  a  clearer  view  of  the  nature  of  art  con- 
sciousness by  studying  briefly  the  evolution  of  one  of  the 
arts.  The  history  of  music  furnishes  material  for  such  a 
study.  One  of  the  most  primitive  forms  of  music  is  that 
produced  by  the  dancing  warrior  who  beats  his  spear  against 
his  shield.  A  little  higher  in  the  evolution  of  the  art  the 
drummer  sits  apart  and  makes  a  rhythmical  sound  that 
guides  the  dances.  The  sounds  hi  both  these  cases  are  not 
of  interest  because  of  their  quality.  In  fact,  the  quality  is  of 
the  crudest  sort.  The  music  is  nothing  but  a  crude  series 
of  noises  reenforcing  the  bodily  rhythms  by  giving  to  the 
nervous  system  shocks  of  stimulation  which  aid  and  inten- 
sify the  rhythmical  reactions. 

The  work-song  is  another  primitive  type  of  music.  A 
group  of  workers  set  up  a  rhythmical  vocal  accompaniment 
to  their  activities.  The  vocal  reactions  are  not  of  significance 
because  of  their  quality.  Even  when  words  are  used  these 
words  have  no  significant  ideas  to  convey  to  the  singers. 
Anyone  who  has  listened  to  a  group  of  sailors  drawing  in 


THE  FINE  ARTS  347 

a  rope  and  chanting  a  meaningless  melody  will  realize  at 
once  that  the  purpose  of  the  song  is  to  secure  social  co- 
operation and  to  emphasize  a  rhythm  of  bodily  activity 
which  turns  drudgery  into  a  pleasurable  succession  of 
stimulations  and  reactions. 

The  content  of  consciousness  in  both  these  cases  is,  of 
course,  a  matter  on  which  one  can  offer  only  speculations. 
But  if  we  may  judge  from  the  analogies  of  personal  expe- 
rience, it  is  safe  to  say  that  there  is  not  much  analysis  of 
experience.  The  sounds  and  bodily  activities,  the  rhythm 
and  the  excitement,  all  fuse  into  a  vague  general  mass  of 
experience  which  submits  itself  only  very  little,  if  at  all,  to 
consideration  or  scientific  dissection. 

Development  does,  however,  gradually  take  place,  show- 
ing that  there  is  a  tendency  for  attention  to  concentrate  on 
the  sound  and  for  experience  to  become  more  complex  in 
the  rhythms  which  are  evolved.  The  pleasure  which  comes 
with  this  enlargement  of  experience  is  greater  than  the 
primitive  types  of  pleasure  which  came  when  the  art  was 
in  its  cruder  beginnings. 

.     RHYTHM  THE  CHIEF  SOURCE  OF  PLEASURE  IN 
PRIMITIVE  Music 

Let  us  consider  first  the  increasing  complexity  of  rhythms. 
Boas1  has  shown  that  primitive  American  tribes  cultivate  the 
ability  to  beat  simultaneously  two  or  three  different  rhythms 
with  different  parts  of  the  body.  These  rhythms  also  exhibit 
internal  complexities  in  that  the  accented  movement  is  re- 
lated to  a  whole  series  of  complex,  unaccented  beats. 

1  Franz  Boas,  The  Mind  of  Primitive  Man.  The  Macmillan  Company, 
1911. 


348     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

GROWTH  OF  DISCRIMINATION  OF  TONES 

With  the  growth  of  complex  rhythms  there  is  a  natural 
demand  for  differentiation  of  sounds.  The  accented  sound 
differs  from  the  unaccented  in  intensity.  The  contrast  is 
made  sharper  if  qualitative  differences  are  also  introduced. 
Thus,  if  the  drummer  has  two  drums  or  a  series  of  sticks 
of  different  lengths  and  strikes  these  at  intervals  in  the 
music,  there  will  be  a  pleasing  variety  of  pitch  and  inten- 
sity to  accompany  the  complex  rhythm.  All  this  calls  for 
increasing  attention  to  the  sound  elements  of  experience, 
and  the  professional  musicians  of  the  tribe  discovered  the 
meaning  and  value  of  tonal  differences  as  well  as  the  pos- 
sibilities of  more  complex  rhythms.  The  analysis  of  these 
professional  musicians  can  hardly  be  assumed  to  be  paral- 
leled by  any  like  analysis  on  the  part  of  auditors.  The 
auditor  receives  a  mass  of  experiences  which  he  enjoys,  and 
yet  he  never  stops  to  analyze  his  pleasure.  We  discover 
even  at  this  early  stage,  therefore,  that  reactions  to  music 
are  highly  individualistic  and  variable  in  character. 

ENJOYMENT  DUE  TO  REACTIONS 

A  consideration  in  some  detail  of  the  internal  processes 
on  which  appreciation  of  rhythmical  sounds  depends  makes 
it  clear  that  we  are  here  in  the  presence  not  of  a  purely 
sensory  fact  but  of  a  complex  form  of  behavior.  There  is 
a  change  in  the  rate  of  the  heartbeat  and  of  respiration. 
There  is  a  change  in  the  tension  of  the  voluntary  muscles. 
There  is  a  succession  of  contractions  and  relaxations  of  the 
muscles  of  the  hand  and  arm  and  trunk.  Even  the  crudest 
sounds,  if  rhythmical,  arouse  in  one  the  impulse  to  beat  time. 
In  short,  there  is  a  real  physical  play  which  responds  to 
the  stimulations  of  the  music  heard.  If  the  vocal  cords  are 
excited  so  as  to  participate  in  the  response,  the  pleasure  of 


THE  FINE  ARTS  349 

articulation  may  be  added  to  the  pleasure  of  other  organic 
reactions.  The  conspicuous  fact  which  is  brought  out  by 
all  these  considerations  is  that  enjoyment  is  a  complex 
phenomenon  depending  in  large  measure  on  motor  responses. 
Furthermore,  each  individual  responds  with  a  series  of 
movements  peculiar  to  himself.  His  past  development  and 
present  nervous  and  muscular  development  determine  his 
inner  reactions.  This  explains  the  individualistic  character 
of  art  and  also  the  fact  that  the  essence  of  the  art  is  in  its 
appeal  to  the  individual,  not  in  its  external  content. 

Primitive  music  remains  for  a  long  period  at  this  level 
where  it  is  to  be  described  as  a  mere  accompaniment  to 
bodily  rhythms.  The  variety  of  tones  necessary  at  this  stage 
of  evolution  of  the  art  is  small.  We  find,  accordingly,  many 
musical  scales  which  include  only  two  or  three  tonal  vari- 
ations. A  common  form  of  primitive  music  is  that  in  which 
the  voice  or  musical  instrument  oscillates  between  a  note 
of  low  pitch  and  a  note  of  high  pitch,  passing  from  one  to 
the  other  and  back  again  in  a  rhythmical  succession  of 
sounds  and  intensities.  Sometimes  this  scale  is  elaborated 
into  three  variations  of  pitch,  sometimes  into  five. 

ART   ULTIMATELY  BECOMES  A  STANDARDIZED   SYSTEM 

Each  of  these  changes  in  the  scale  marks  an  increase  in 
the  complexity  of  experience.  The  particular  tones  used 
by  any  particular  tribe  also  come  to  be  standardized.  The 
result  is  that  music  rises  to  the  level  of  a  highly  specialized 
system  of  tonal  variations  and  combinations.  Music  as  an 
art  does  not  use  all  the  variations  of  tone  of  which  the 
voice  is  capable ;  it  uses  only  a  limited  number  of  selected 
tones.  Indeed,  in  early  music  the  chant  and  the  accompani- 
ment were  different  in  tones,  thus  leading  to  the  evolution 
of  a  specialized  instrumental  music.  Furthermore,  it  is  to 
be  recognized  here,  as  in  all  arts,  that  the  experience  of 


350    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

the  auditor  or  observer  very  often  does  not  include  as  much 
attention  to  detailed  differences  as  does  the  experience  of 
the  producer.  The  auditor  is  absorbed  in  the  total  unan- 
alyzed  excitement  of  the  situation. 

DEPENDENCE  OF  ART  ON  SUBJECTIVE  MOTIVES 

At  this  point  we  may  digress  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  music  evolves  from  purely  subjective  motives.  Art  is 
never  forced  upon  man  by  the  external  world.  Man  was 
compelled  to  learn  the  practical  art  of  getting  food  and 
the  practical  art  of  building  shelter  because  the  stern 
necessities  of  existence  in  the  world  drove  him  to  think 
of  the  things  about  him.  He  had  to  pick  out  the  objects 
which  he  needed  and  think  about  them,  and  consequently 
his  practical  needs  trained  him  in  concentration  of  atten- 
tion on  the  particular  things  about  him.  But  music  has 
purely  subjective  value.  Music  appeals  to  the  rhythms  of 
the  body  and  nervous  system.  Music  does  not  move  the 
world  or  provide  shelter.  Music  develops  only  in  response 
to  the  demand  for  subjective  delight.  We  find,  therefore, 
that  musical  systems,  when  once  they  are  evolved,  are 
extraordinarily  conservative,  depending  absolutely  on  the 
development  of  modes  of  reaction  in  the  individual.  Primi- 
tive races  adopt  the  clothes  and  the  food  of  civilized  man, 
but  keep  their  own  dances  and  their  own  music.  Music  is 
pleasurable  because  it  sets  up  personal  reactions  and  re- 
sponses. The  more  highly  the  art  is  elaborated,  the  more 
definitely  personal  responses  will  become  fixed.  Above  all, 
music  is  not  a  practical  system  of  behavior. 

Returning  from  this  digression,  we  note  that  music  as  a 
system  of  sound  relations  developed  in  connection  with  the 
development  of  song  on  the  one  hand  and  with  the  growth 
of  technical  skill  in  instrumentation  on  the  other  hand. 
As  the  chanting  of  the  minstrel  at  the  festival  and  later  as 


THE  FINE  ARTS  351 

the  singing  of  the  church  choir  developed,  more  complex 
systems  of  tonal  combinations  were  worked  out.  Attention 
was  centered  in  these  later  stages  on  sound,  and  the  com- 
binations of  sounds  constituted  a  growing  part  of  the 
art.  The  development  of  interest  in  sounds  was  also  accom- 
panied by  an  evolution  in  the  mechanical  devices  for  the 
production  of  tones,  though  instrumentation  has  in  many 
respects  shown  lines  of  development  different  from  those 
which  appear  in  vocal  music. 

MELODY  AND  HAKMONY  BELATED  TO  REACTIONS 

The  evolution  of  tonal  discrimination  and  interest  in 
tonal  combination  carries  us  far  beyond  the  original  stage 
of  music,  where  the  interest  attached  merely  to  noise  arid 
rhythm.  As  soon  as  men  began  to  discriminate  tones,  they 
were  led  to  work  out  certain  regular  sequences,  or  melodies. 
Later  these  melodies  were  made  increasingly  complex,  until 
finally  the  higher  forms  of  harmony  were  evolved. 

These  later  forms  of  experience  seem  at  first  observation 
to  be  sensory  matters,  and  psychological  discussions  have 
usually  proceeded  on  the  theory  that  appreciation  of  mel- 
ody and  harmony  is  a  sensory  fact.  The  physicists,  concen- 
trating attention  upon  the  stimulus  which  comes  to  the 
ear,  are  able  to  show  that  the  number  of  vibrations  in  the 
successive  tones  included  in  an  agreeable  melody  stand  in 
a  definite  numerical  ratio  to  each  other.  This  fact  has  in 
turn  been  accounted  for  by  certain  physiologists  as  due  to 
certain  structures  in  the  ear.  The  discussions  which  have 
been  carried  on  in  support  of  these  sensory  theories  cannot 
appropriately  be  reviewed  in  detail  here.  We  may  remark 
in  passing,  however,  that  there  has  always  been  great  diffi- 
culty in  working  out  a  satisfactory  theory  of  the  sensory 
elements  involved  in  the  creation  of  a  scale  and  the  devel- 
opment of  melody. 


352    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

It  is  legitimate  to  supplement  these  sensory  theories  by 
turning  to  the  motor  processes.  A  nation,  long  accustomed 
to  a  certain  scale  of  sounds,  cultivates  both  in  singing  and 
in  emotional  responses  a  definite  set  of  reactions,  which 
are  aroused  when  one  hears  music  or  when  one  attempts 
to  produce  melodies  or  harmonies.  These  facts  of  response 
are  quite  as  significant  in  explaining  appreciation  as  are 
any  facts  of  sensation. 

The  case  is  immediately  clear  if  we  refer  to  the  appre- 
ciation exhibited  by  a  trained  singer.  Whether  he  listens 
or  himself  sings,  his  appreciation  of  tonal  differences  and 
of  tonal  conventions  will  depend  upon  the  ability  of  his 
vocal  cords  to  produce  by  a  muscular  readjustment  the 
successive  pitches  of  the  melody.  Where  the  adjustment 
of  the  vocal  cords  in  attempting  to  pass  from  one  tone  to 
another  is  of  an  extremely  difficult  type,  as  for  example 
when  the  tones  are  too  nearly  alike,  the  reaction  will 
be  difficult  and  disturbing.  The  flatting  of  a  tone  either 
when  one  is  singing  or  listening  is  an  extremely  painful  ex- 
perience for  a  trained  singer,  because  he  realizes,  not  only 
through  his  ear  but  also  through  his  own  motor  adjust- 
ments, that  the  flatting  of  the  tone  is  an  improper  adjust- 
ment of  the  sound-producing  organs.  When,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  movements  of  the  vocal  cords  are  easy  and  agree- 
able, the  total  emotional  experience  is  one  of  great  pleasure. 

Added  to  these  habits  of  the  vocal  cords,  however,  are 
the  trained  reactions  of  all  the  emotional  reactions  which 
come  through  long  drill  in  a  conventional  series  of  pitches 
accepted  in  the  national  musical  scale.  A  Chinaman  evi- 
dently enjoys  the  monotonous  succession  of  simple  tonal 
variations  which  make  up  his  national  music.  A  European 
enjoys  the  simple  Chinese  music  very  little.  He  has  been 
trained  to  a  more  elaborate  series.  In  either  case  it  is  not 
alone  the  ear  that  has  been  trained.  The  whole  organism 
responds  to  melody. 


THE  FINE  ARTS  353 

This  view  finds  new  support  in  the  fact  that  appreciation 
of  harmony  comes  late  in  the  evolution  of  music.  Harmony 
consists  in  a  group  of  agreeable  simultaneous  tones.  The 
tones  which  are  agreeable  when  heard  simultaneously  are 
for  the  most  part  those  which  are  agreeable  in  a  succession 
of  tones.  The  development  of  a  taste  for  harmony  is  a 
relatively  recent  fact  and  its  psychological  explanation  is 
most  intricate.  One  may  discuss  contrasts  in  tones  and 
the  fusion  of  tones  ;  one  must  recognize  that  inharmonious 
tones  produce  beats  and  roughness  which  are  added  items 
of  sensation,  distracting  from  the  pure  tones  and  disturbing 
recognition ;  but  after  attention  has  been  given  to  all  these 
sensory  elements  of  harmony  the  fact  remains  that  there 
is  an  inner  emotional  response  to  all  harmony,  and  this 
response  is  not  a  sensory  element.  When  one  listens  to  a 
great  orchestra  his  appreciation  is  determined  not  alone  by 
the  way  the  sound  strikes  the  ear ;  it  is  the  reverberation 
of  the  whole  muscular  organism  that  explains  the  enjoyment. 

APPRECIATION  INCREASED  THROUGH  TRAINING 
IN  PRODUCTION 

Consider  the  child  who  is  learning  to  sing  or  play  the 
piano.  Observe  how  this  child  makes  keener  discrimina- 
tion after  a  little  practice ;  note  that  he  listens  to  melodies 
with  new  appreciation.  In  fact,  the  full  appreciation  of 
music  cannot  come  without  some  skill  in  production.  Some 
appreciation  of  music  there  is  without  a  corresponding 
ability  to  produce,  but  the  auditor's  appreciation  is  never 
so  complete  as  that  of  the  person  trained  in  production. 
Even  the  appreciation  exhibited  by  the  mere  auditor  must 
be  explained  in  motor  terms.  The  relaxation  which  comes 
when  one  hears  rich,  soft  tones,  the  tightening  up  of  the 
muscles  when  one  listens  to  martial  music — these  are  typical 
facts  on  which  to  base  an  understanding  of  the  appreciation. 


354    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

When  one  has,  in  addition  to  the  vague  general  organk 
reactions  just  mentioned,  the  finer  discriminating  reactions 
of  the  trained  technician,  appreciation  will  be  of  a  higher 
and  more  complete  type.  Nearly  every  one  can  tell  when 
a  note  is  very  flat,  because  every  one  has  some  skill  in 
the  vocal  production  of  simple  melodies ;  but  it  requires 
the  trained  singer  to  recognize  a  slight  departure  from  the 
exact  note.  So  it  is  with  the  more  elaborate  emotional 
responses  to  musical  combinations. 

VAEIETY  nsr  ATTITUDES  TOWARD  Music 

The  complexity  of  the  educational  problem  becomes  obvi- 
ous when  we  summarize  what  has  been  said  about  different 
classes  of  persons,  all  of  whom  are  involved  in  this  discus- 
sion. Consider  in  succession  the  composer  of  melodies,  the 
ordinary  producer,  and  the  auditor  who  enjoys  music  but  is 
not  trained  in  production.  The  composer  studies  the  laws 
of  musical  relations  and  the  effects  of  various  combinations 
of  tones.  His  attention  is  alert  for  tonal  differences  and 
effects.  The  producer  may  be  a  pure  technician,  translat- 
ing visual  symbols  or  memories  into  finger  movement,  or  he 
may  add  varying  degrees  of  discrimination.  The  listener 
may  respond  merely  with  vague  general  bodily  reactions. 
The  practical  school  problem  is  to  train  all  students  to 
some  extent,  and  to  discover  the  possible  producers  and 
composers  soon  enough  to  give  them  the  more  elaborate 
training  which  they  need. 

Germany  has  a  universal  system  of  training.  The  pu- 
pils in  German  schools  are  taught  to  sing.  The  teachers 
of  the  Volksschule  are  trained  to  give  instruction  in  music 
by  courses  in  instrumental  and  vocal  music.  Every  such 
teacher  must  sing  and  play  either  the  violin  or  the  organ. 
Appreciation  is  thus  developed  by  a  course  of  training  in 
the  production  of  music. 


THE  FINE  ARTS  355 

In  the  schools  of  this  country  music  is  regarded  as  de- 
sirable enough  to  be  made  a  part  of  the  course ;  training 
hi  singing  is  the  method  most  commonly  adopted  of  culti- 
vating appreciation.  Iristru mental  training  is  seldom  taught. 
In  a  few  instances  the  theory  of  harmony  is  taught  even  to 
secondary  students.  For  the  most  part,  however,  training  in 
music  is  regarded  as  a  luxury,  and  failure  to  show  efficiency 
in  the  music  course  is  not  treated  as  a  serious  deficiency. 

Especially  has  the  cultivation  of  skill  in  playing  a  musi- 
cal instrument  been  looked  on  as  of  doubtful  educational 
import.  The  experience  of  the  world  has  shown  that  in 
some  conspicuous  cases  the  instrumentalist  is  devoid  of 
intellectual  power  of  the  ordinary  types;  skepticism  has 
therefore  arisen  as  to  the  value  of  instrumental  practice 
as  a  means  of  general  training.  This  skepticism  regarding 
instrumental  music  has  reenforced  the  general  attitude 
which  arises  from  the  fact  that  music  is  different  from 
science  and  history  and  literature,  and  has  made  it  more 
difficult  for  music  to  secure  a  place  in  the  curriculum. 

PROBLEMS  OF  INSTRUCTION  IN  Music 

If  one  asks  the  music  teacher  what  is  cultivated  in  stu- 
dents by  the  course  in  music,  the  answer  received  is  likely 
to  be  somewhat  hazy.  Some  statement  about  the  higher 
emotions,  about  cultivated  feelings,  is  as  far  as  one  usually 
gets  in  these  discussions.  The  psychologist  has  a  right  to 
ask  that  the  emotion  be  defined  more  fully.  Here  we  en- 
counter the  real  difficulty.  The  various  individual  modes 
of  appreciating  music  are  so  different  that  the  work  is 
extraordinarily  difficult  to  standardize.  One  person  appre- 
ciates music  because  he  has  learned  to  play  the  violin, 
another  because  he  has  learned  to  sing,  another  because 
music  sets  his  involuntary  muscles  in  emotional  action. 
Each  person  enjoys  music,  but  each  in  his  own  way  and  in 


356     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

his  own  degree.  Suppose  the  problem  is  put  in  such  terms 
as  these :  "  Does  it  pay  to  take  two  hours  a  week  to  train 
students  in  singing?"  There  are  two  kinds  of  results  from 
such  training.  The  students  will  learn  in  some  degree  to 
sing.  This  result  can  be  observed  and  tested.  If  the  two 
hours  a  week  have  to  be  given  for  what  is  usually  accom- 
plished in  singing  in  a  high-school  class,  the  investment  is 
probably  too  heavy.  The  music  teacher  will,  however, 
usually  emphasize  a  second  and  not  easily  measured  result. 
The  singing  may  be  poor,  he  will  tell  you,  but  the  cultiva- 
tion of  taste  is  the  real  result.  If  now  you  ask  for  the 
evidence  of  cultivation  of  taste,  it  will  be  very  difficult  to 
supply  objective  evidence.  This  is  the  major  reason  why 
music  and  the  other  arts  are  looked  on  as  doubtful  members 
of  the  academic  family. 

There  is  another  phase  of  the  situation  which  is  not  to  be 
overlooked.  The  lack  of  analysis  which  is  usually  exhibited 
in  the  experience  of  a  person  who  is  absorbed  in  music  is 
so  opposed  to  all  of  the  traditions  of  academic  training  that 
teachers  are  skeptical  of  the  mental  attitude  which  grows 
up  through  interest  in  music.  To  be  absorbed  in  tonal 
combinations,  to  react  with  strong  emotional  reactions,  may 
be  personally  satisfying  and  even  elevating,  but  the  scien- 
tific, analytical  mode  of  looking  at  the  world  is  the  end 
aimed  at  in  most  of  the  other  classes  in  the  school.  The 
analytical  attitude  teachers  understand,  and  they  know 
that  this  is  the  sort  of  training  of  attention  which  lies 
back  of  many  improvements  in  our  modern  civilization. 
Music,  they  hold,  will  have  to  prove  its  case,  if  it  has  a 
case,  or  it  will  have  to  remain  an  incidental  feature  of 
the  curriculum. 

To  introduce  some  history  of  music  or  some  studies  in 
harmony,  in  the  hope  of  turning  music  into  a  subject  like 
other  subjects,  is  probably  not  the  way  to  prove  the  case  for 
music.  To  present  general  statements  about  the  elevating 


THE  FINE  ARTS  357 

effects  of  music  is  certainly  not  the  way  to  prove  the  case 
for  music.  To  give  drill  in  production,  together  with  train- 
ing in  some  of  the  canons  of  the  art,  and  to  concentrate 
attention  on  good  examples  of  music  so  as  to  cultivate  gen- 
uine appreciation  are  probably  the  most  promising  methods 
of  procedure.  In  the  meantime,  someone  interested  ought 
to  give  to  the  students  of  education  a  statement  of  what 
musical  taste  really  consists  in,  and  he  should  evolve  some 
method  of  evaluating  the  effects  produced  by  instruction. 

GRAPHIC  ART  AS  AN  INSTRUMENT  OF  INSTRUCTION 

What  has  been  said  with  regard  to  music  may  be  re- 
peated, with  slight  variations,  for  the  graphic  arts.  If  we 
study  the  history  of  graphic  arts,  we  find  again  a  rapid 
process  of  differentiation  between  the  producer  of  pictures 
and  the  person  who  merely  enjoys  pictures.  The  producer 
of  pictures,  like  the  producer  of  music,  has  been  regarded 
by  society  as  a  person  whose  skill  is  to  be  respected.  Cer- 
tain aspects  of  the  skill  exhibited  by  the  producer  of  draw- 
ings are  recognized  as  of  the  highest  intellectual  type.  The 
civilized  world  has  commonly  been  prepared  to  reward  its 
producers  of  art.  On  the  other  hand,  the  appreciation  of  a 
drawing  is  another  matter.  To  give  academic  credit  or  any 
other  form  of  credit  for  ability  to  enjoy  a  picture  has  not 
in  general  been  regarded  as  legitimate.  Furthermore,  it  has 
sometimes  been  doubted  whether  the  school  ought  to  try  to 
cultivate  in  any  general  way  the  technical  ability  needed  to 
produce  drawings.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  some  people 
apparently  acquire  this  ability  to  produce  drawings  by  some 
mysterious  process  of  inheritance,  or  by  a  special  devotion  to 
one  aspect  of  mental  life  to  such  an  extent  that  they  become 
narrow  specialists,  and  defeat,  through  their  devotion  to 
graphic  art,  the  ordinary  ends  of  intellectual  training.  A 
person  who  is  always  trying  to  draw  things  may  be  very 


358    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

negligent  of  his  social  relations  and  of  his  relation  to  the 
physical  necessities  of  life.  The  artistic  temperament,  as  it 
is  sometimes  described,  is  looked  upon  by  the  practical  man, 
when  it  assumes  its  extreme  form,  as  an  unfortunate  type 
of  intellectual  development,  and  one  which  hardly  fits  into 
the  general  scheme  of  society's  life  and  society's  training. 
There  is,  therefore,  a  great  deal  of  confusion  in  the  minds 
of  school  officers  as  to  what  they  ought  to  do. 

TECHNICAL  CHARACTER  OF  DRAWING 

Again  the  psychologist  comes  forward  with  the  sugges- 
tion that  a  more  careful  study  be  made  of  the  mental  proc- 
esses aroused  by  the  study  and  production  of  drawings. 
The  historical  materials  are  even  more  definite  than  those 
available  in  music.  On  the  other  hand,  the  reactions  which 
arise  in  the  individual  are  more  heterogeneous  than  are  the 
reactions  which  result  from  appreciation  of  music.  Appre- 
ciation of  pictures  is  connected  in  a  measure  with  the  ob- 
server's development  of  space  percepts.  This  involves,  as 
indicated  in  an  earlier  chapter,  some  appreciation  of  mechan- 
ical balance.  For  these  and  like  reasons  we  must  relate 
graphic  art  to  both  the  fine  arts  and  practical  behavior. 
Indeed,  the  pictorial  arts  are  much  more  closely  related  to 
the  industrial  arts  than  music,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
the  pictorial  arts  have  been  obliged  to  employ  external 
materials.  There  is  no  form  of  behavior  which  will  produce 
a  picture  without  the  manipulation  of  external  materials. 
In  this  respect  drawing  differs  from  music,  since  the  un- 
aided voice  will  produce  music.  A  picture  is  always  depend- 
ent upon  the  relation  between  a  tool  of  some  kind  and 
the  substance  on  which  the  picture  is  drawn.  To  learn  the 
relation  between  the  tool  and  the  surface  on  which  the 
picture  is  to  be  produced  involves,  therefore,  the  acquisi- 
tion of  a  technical  art.  Furthermore,  the  subject  of  every 


THE  FINE  AETS  859 

pictorial  expression  must  be  some  external  object.  Conse- 
quently the  artist  is  obliged  in  the  drawing  of  his  picture 
to  pay  some  attention  to  the  things  which  he  intends  to 
represent.  There  is  in  this  necessity  of  paying  attention  to 
the  external  object  an  important  characteristic  of  graphic  art. 

EARLY  DISREGARD  OF  PATTERN 

The  extent  to  which  the  external  object  enters  into 
drawings  is  a  matter  of  great  historical  interest.  We  find, 
for  example,  that  in  earlier  art  the  color  of  objects  is  a  sub- 
ject of  very  little  attention.  Indeed,  there  was  in  the  early 
days  of  painting  so  obvious  a  conflict  between  the  observa- 
tions which  were  made  on  external  objects  and  the  mate- 
rials which  were  in  the  hands  of  the  artist  for  expression, 
that  it  was  only  by  neglecting  the  color  of  external  objects 
that  the  artist  could  do  anything.  He  had  no  means  of 
expressing  the  observed  colors  of  nature.  The  artist  took 
advantage  of  the  fact  that  the  ordinary  observer  pays  so 
little  attention  to  color  that  it  is  usually  quite  impossible 
for  him  to  give  any  account  of  the  different  shades  of  color 
exhibited  by  the  object  which  he  has  in  memory.  Primitive 
painting  was  very  like  memory  images  in  the  fact  that  it 
did  not  imitate  natural  colors.  What  colors  the  artist  had 
he  used  in  expressing  certain  distinctions  which  were  in  his 
own  mind.  Color  was  of  value,  therefore,  merely  as  a  means 
of  drawing  attention  to  certain  sharp  contrasts.  We  find, 
accordingly,  in  primitive  art  a  period  of  purely  symbolical 
use  of  the  color  differences ;  and,  furthermore,  these  colors 
were  put  into  the  pictures  not  in  the  relations  in  which 
colors  appear  in  natural  objects,  where  gradations  of  color 
and  modulations  of  color  tone  are  the  rule,  but  in  the 
earlier  pictures  there  are  great  surfaces  of  the  most  striking 
colors,  contrasted  sharply,  without  gradations. 


360     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

DEFECTIVE  PERSPECTIVE  IN  EARLY  DRAWING 

Another  conspicuous  lack  in  primitive  drawing  is  a  lack 
of  perspective.  The  early  artists  were  again  dominated  in 
their  productions  not  by  a  careful  examination  of  the  ob- 
jects which  they  represented  but  rather  by  their  own  mem- 
ory images.  It  makes  no  difference  in  the  memory  images 
whether  an  object  is  regarded  as  far  away  or  near  at  hand. 
Its  essential  character  is  the  same  in  either  case.  Indeed, 
the  considerations  which  determine  the  size  of  objects  in 
memory  are  wholly  different  from  considerations  of  distance. 
It  is  the  important  objects  which  are  likely  to  loom  large. 
Important  objects  may  be  so  large  as  to  be  altogether  out 
of  proportion  in  thought  to  the  other  objects,  which  consti- 
tute the  background  of  consciousness.  We  see,  therefore, 
in  earlier  art  grotesque  exhibitions  of  disregard  for  the  true 
relations  of  perspective.  In  the  foreground  of  the  picture 
will  appear  a  human  figure  of  colossal  size  as  compared  with 
the  landscape,  which  is  put  behind  for  the  sake  of  artistic 
completeness.  In  like  fashion,  the  impression  which  the 
earlier  artist  had  of  the  interior  of  a  room  was  very  prim- 
itive indeed.  Under  the  ordinary  conditions  of  life  one  does 
not  concentrate  attention  on  the  spatial  characteristics  of 
the  room  in  which  he  lives.  For  example,  one  does  not 
recognize  the  details  of  the  lighting  of  the  room  until  he  has 
made  a  very  careful  study  of  it.  Consequently  the  earlier 
artists  were  altogether  unable  to  represent  the  interior  of  a 
room  or  to  give  the  objects  in  the  room  anything  like  their 
real  shading. 

This  difficulty  of  representing  perspective  properly  ap- 
pears very  conspicuously  in  certain  mistakes  made  both  by 
children  and  by  primitive  artists.  In  drawing  a  human  fig- 
ure in  profile  a  child  will  represent  more  in  this  profile  than 
he  could  actually  see  in  an  object  observed  from  the  side. 
He  puts  both  eyes  on  the  side  of  the  face,  or  he  represents 


THE  FINE  ARTS  361 

both  arms  on  the  side  of  the  body  which  he  is  trying  to 
draw.  Primitive  artists  did  exactly  the  same  sort  of  thing. 
Furthermore,  primitive  artists  and  children  draw  the  differ- 
ent parts  of  objects  out  of  all  proportion  to  each  other.  They 
draw  the  head  of  an  animal  altogether  too  large.  This  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  head  is  of  much  more  significance 
to  the  observer  than  is  any  other  part  of  the  body. 

COMPLEX  PSYCHOLOGICAL  CHARACTER  OF  GRAPHIC  ART 

All  of  these  facts  with  regard  to  primitive  art  and  chil- 
dren's drawing  show  that  the  graphic  arts  are  a  mixture  of 
internal  motives  springing  from  the  artist's  memory  and 
from  his  personal  attitudes  toward  objects  and  external 
motives  borrowed  more  or  less  skillfully  from  the  world 
of  sensory  experiences.  For  the  most  part,  it  may  be  said 
that  attention  to  the  external  objects  is  relatively  very  late, 
and  a  careful  analysis  of  external  objects  is  the  result  of 
very  elaborate  study. 

This  statement  is  seen  to  be  the  more  significant  when 
it  is  remembered  that  a  large  part  of  art  is  to  be  classified 
as  design  rather  than  as  pictorial  representation  of  objects. 
Design  calls  for  the  distribution  of  the  drawing  in  a  given 
space,  and  that  space  must,  furthermore,  have  the  different 
parts  of  the  drawing  so  distributed  as  to  satisfy  the  funda- 
mental demands  for  symmetry  and  balance.  Much  of  the 
appreciation  which  we  have  for  mural  decoration  is  due 
not  merely  to  the  representations  of  external  objects  which 
appear  on  these  surfaces,  but  to  the  way  in  which  these 
representations  are  grouped  so  as  to  satisfy  the  observer 
with  the  space  in  which  the  drawing  is  placed.  The  1m  es 
of  a  mural  painting  must  tend  to  support  the  architectural 
structure,  and  the  emphasis  which  is  given  to  different 
parts  of  space  must  have  due  regard  to  the  building  as 
well  as  to  the  thing  depicted.  Frequently  the  demands  of 


362     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

design  are  such  as  to  supersede  altogether  the  interest  in 
the  representation. 

Where  design  flourishes,  therefore,  there  is  developed 
a  kind  of  taste  which  is  wholly  different  from  that  which 
attaches  to  the  study  of  objects.  For  example,  in  dress 
designs  and  in  decorative  patterns  on  fabrics,  taste  de- 
pends on  form  relations,  not  on  the  desire  to  represent 
any  real  objects. 

All  these  facts  complicate  the  issue  for  the  school.  Shall 
students  be  taught  to  draw  ?  If  so,  what  is  the  motive  ? 
Study  of  form  and  color  ?  Appreciation  of  symmetry  and 
balance  ?  Careful  observation  of  things  or  a  study  of  the 
properties  of  expressive  materials  ? 

APPRECIATION  MORE  COMPLICATED  THAN  PRODUCTION 

If  there  is  difficulty  in  dealing  with  graphic  art  as  a 
means  of  educating  those  who  produce  pictures,  the  diffi- 
culties multiply  when  we  discuss  the  training  of  apprecia- 
tion apart  from  production.  Let  us  consider  a  concrete  case 
which  shows  how  difficult  is  the  training  of  appreciation. 
A  painting  which  tells  a  story  will  usually  excite  infinitely 
more  popular  enthusiasm  than  a  painting  which  shows  the 
finest  balance  of  form  and  color.  The  reason  for  this  public 
enjoyment  of  the  story-picture  is  that  this  picture  arouses 
familiar,  responsive  emotional  reactions.  The  painting  shows 
someone  in  danger;  the  observer  has  all  the  contractions 
which  would  come  from  seeing  real  danger,  with  this  one 
qualification,  he  knows  that  no  harm  is  really  coming  to  the 
subject  represented.  So  he  can  enjoy  the  thrill  of  real  dan- 
ger without  having  to  pay  the  price  of  a  real  catastrophe. 
His  experience  is  accordingly  intense,  while  the  cost  is  small. 

Yet  pictured  stories  are  not  the  highest  art  we  are  told. 
One  ought  to  rise  through  training  above  the  primitive  en- 
joyment of  a  picture  which  merely  tells  a  story  to  a  correct 


THE  FINE  ARTS  363 

appreciation  of  the  highest  art.  This  higher  art  is  some- 
times called  in  question.  One  finds  himself  interposing  the 
objection  that  art  has  often  suffered  in  its  extreme  technical 
forms  from  temporary  domination  by  grotesque  fashions. 
How  is  one  to  be  sure  that  the  refinements  which  his  taste" 
undergoes  are  really  carrying  him  in  the  direction  of  the 
highest  types  of  appreciation  ?  Perhaps  he  is  taking  on  an 
artificial  fad.  The  very  fact  that  appreciation  is  a  subjective 
matter,  not  checked  by  external  conditions,  leaves  art  at  a 
disadvantage  when  contrasted  with  science.  Science  checks 
subjective  reactions  by  constant,  references  to  the  world 
of  things.  Art  cannot  check  itself  in  this  way.  The  fact 
that  Western  art  exhibits  fashions  so  radically  different  from 
those  of  the  Orient,  and  the  fact  that  occidental  art  shows 
so  many  divergent  types  in  our  own  times,  shows  the  diffi- 
culty of  using  art  as  an  instrument  of  general  education. 

COMPARATIVE  VALUES  OF  DIFFERENT  FORMS  OF 
APPRECIATION 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  literary  appreciation  is  ac- 
cepted in  the  schools  without  serious  dissent,  and  it  is  asked 
why  art  of  other  types  should  be  less  hospitably  received. 
The  answer  is  not  far  to  seek.  Language  is  a  mode  of  ex- 
pression which  all  must  cultivate  for  the  purposes  of  prac- 
tical life,  while  the  other  modes  of  artistic  expression  are 
relatively  nonesseiitial.  Since  all  must  cultivate  language, 
all  will  have  some  of  the  producer's  share  of  appreciation 
in  artistic  language  forms.  Furthermore,  the  canons  of  taste 
in  language  are  constantly  checked  by  the  applications  of 
language  to  the  practical  affairs  of  social  and  personal  life. 
There  is,  accordingly,  a  stability  in  the  language  arts  which 
does  not  appear  in  the  other  arts. 

The  reader  of  the  foregoing  pages  will  doubtless  interpret 
what  has  been  said  as  unfavorable  to  the  introduction  of 


364     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

art  into  the  high-school  course.  Such  an  interpretation  is 
legitimate  only  in  so  far  as  difficulties  frankly  faced  always 
seem  to  make  the  case  unfavorable.  The  writer  might  free 
himself  from  the  responsibility  of  uttering  criticism  against 
art  by  hiding  behind  the  actual  present-day  verdict  of  the 
schools.  If  he  has  implied  criticism  of  art,  the  school  openly 
classifies  art  as  of  doubtful  value  in  the  course  of  study. 
It  is  no  part  of  the  writer's  purpose  to  escape  responsibility 
by  appealing  to  present  practices  and  present  prejudices. 
He  much  prefers  to  let  the  statements  stand  as  valid  quite 
apart  from  any  of  the  present  attitudes  of  those  who  make 
school  programs.  The  interpretation  which  he  would  put 
upon  the  facts  discussed  is  this:  If  the  arts  are  to  find  a 
place  in  the  school  program,  they  must  first  find  an  adequate 
and  definable  method  of  instruction.  Experience  seems  to 
point  in  the  direction  of  an  emphasis  on  production  as  the 
best  method  of  training.  Whatever  the  method  of  instruc- 
tion, art  teachers  must  give  up  the  practice  of  indulging 
in  rhapsodies  over  art  and  its  value,  and  must  learn  to  de- 
fine the  types  of  appreciation  which  they  wish  to  cultivate. 
They  must  show  that  they  know  when  they  have  produced 
one  of  these  approved  types  of  appreciation.  Finally,  they 
must  by  practical  demonstration  convince  the  world  that 
there  is  no  fundamental  opposition  between  the  habits  of 
mind  and  action  cultivated  in  the  arts  and  those  cultivated 
in  the  scientific  courses  given  in  the  schools.  The  present- 
day  conditions  are  a  challenge  to  art  teachers  and  to  all  of 
us.  Vaguely  we  all  believe  in  art;  practically  we  are  not 
able  to  bring  it  into  the  schools  in  any  form  which  we  re- 
gard as  satisfactory  for  the  training  of  students.  To  bring 
it  forcibly  into  the  course  without  heeding  the  objections 
raised  will  be  unfortunate.  To  omit  it  altogether  is  to 
deprive  the  student  of  one  important  aspect  of  civilization. 
The  challenge  to  deal  with  this  situation  intelligently  is 
peremptory. 


THE  FINE  ARTS  365 

THE  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  Music  IN  AMERICAN 
HIGH  SCHOOLS 

Since  the  foregoing  statement  has  given  relatively  little 
account  of  the  practices  of  high  schools  in  the  matter  of  art 
instruction,  we  may,  before  closing  the  chapter,  make  some 
reference  to  the  reports  which  show  the  conditions  of  these 
lines  of  work  in  schools. 

Statements  with  regard  to  music  may  be  taken  from  a 
bulletin  issued  by  the  Bureau  of  Education.1  The  following 
quotations  taken  from  different  parts  of  the  monograph  set 
forth  the  situation  in  detail. 

Musicians  are  not  fully  agreed  among  themselves  as  to  what 
constitutes  music  education.  The  definition  still  varies  accord- 
ing to  the  standpoint  of  the  de finer.  The  composer,  the  per- 
former, the  theorist,  the  pedagogue,  will  each  interpret  it  in  the 
light  of  his  own  specialty.  It  is  this  lack  of  system,  this-  indefi- 
niteness  of  aim,  that  have  repelled  those  who  mold  educational 
opinion,  and  have  caused  them  to  withhold  from  music  that  edu- 
cational value  which  its  votarists  claim  for  it  but  which  has  been 
obscured  by  the  desultory  nature  of  music  instruction.  (P.  7.) 

A  statement  of  the  work  in  secondary  schools  would  be  a 
recapitulation  of  what  has  already  been  said  [regarding  courses 
in  colleges  and  special  schools  of  music]  with  the  addition  that 
the  standards  of  excellence  and  efficiency  do  not  as  a  rule  com- 
pare favorably  with  those  in  the  institutions  of  higher  educa- 
tion. Of  the  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  schools  reported 
forty-six  per  cent  employ  one  or  two  instructors  whose  entire 
time  is  given  to  the  institution  and  whose  duties  are  to  give  in- 
struction in  piano,  singing,  organ,  violin,  and  theory.  There  are 
schools  among  the  number  reported  which  have  well-organized 
departments  and  well-conceived  courses  of  study.  In  some, 
mention  is  made  of  the  advantages  accruing  from  the  study  of 
music  in  connection  with  subjects  in  the  literary  departments, 

1  A.  L.  Manchester,  "  Music  Education  in  the  United  States,"  Bulletin 
No.  4  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  1908.  Whole  number, 
387. 


366     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

and  in  a  few  instances,  the  completion  of  a  high-school  course 
of  at  least  three  years  is  required  before  graduation  in  music. 
Attention  here,  as  in  many  institutions  of  the  other  classes, 
is  directed  mainly  to  performance,  with  some  emphasis  upon 
theoretical  subjects.  (P.  19.) 

Perhaps  no  single  disclosure  by  the  investigation  is  more 
encouraging  than  this.  While  the  advancement  of  students 
still  rests  in  many  cases  with  the  instructor,  or  with  the  in- 
structor and  director  of  the  department  jointly,  the  develop- 
ment of  a  system  of  accurate  grade  marks,  based  on  examination 
and  recitation,  gives  promise  of  the  eventual  .setting  up  of  such 
standards  as  will  result  in  the  unifying  of  educational  effort. 
(P.  41.) 

There  appears  to  be  a  growing  purpose  upon  the  part  of  the 
departments  of  music  in  colleges  and  universities  to  demand  a 
certain  amount  of  general  educational  qualifications  from  those 
who  wish  to  enter  graduate  courses  in  music.  (P.  42.) 

Perhaps  the  most  significant  fact  which  an  investigation  of 
present  tendencies  shows  is  the  marked  change  in  their  attitude 
toward  music  of  the  dominating  forces  in  educational  move- 
ments to-day,  namely,  the  colleges  and  universities.  While  music 
is  still  made  to  feel  that  it  is  only  tolerated  in  some  institutions, 
there  has  come  to  pass  what  might  rightfully  be  esteemed  a 
remarkable  change  of  heart  upon  the  part  of  the  institutions 
of  the  highest  grade  and  influence.  It  is  clear  that  the  separa- 
tion between  music  and  general  educational  thought  is  not  only 
being  rapidly  lessened  but  that  it  will  completely  disappear  in 
a  much  shorter  time  than  past  conditions  would  warrant  one 
in  predicting.  (P.  81.) 

Secondary  schools,  which  in  general  education  take  care  to 
have  their  courses  closely  articulated  with  those  of  institutions 
of  higher  education,  attempt  the  same  grade  of  music  instruc- 
tion as  the  best  equipped  conservatory  or  college.  There  are 
no  secondary  music  schools.  A  well-defined,  properly  regulated 
development  of  music  education  from  its  most  elementary  to 
its  highest  grades  does  not  yet  exist.  (P.  83.) 


THE  FINE  AKTS  367 

CARTER  ON  GRAPHIC  ARTS  IN  AMERICAN 
HIGH  SCHOOLS 

A  review  of  the  place  of  graphic  arts  in  secondary  schools 
in  the  United  States  is  included  in  the  general  volume  pre- 
pared under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Committee  of  the 
Third  International  Congress  for  the  Development  of  Draw- 
ing and  Art  Teaching  held  in  London  in  1908.1 

In  his  review,  Mr.  Carter  gives  various  statements  made 
by  heads  of  departments  in  high  schools  regarding  the  pur- 
pose of  art  in  the  secondary-school  course.  In  summing  up 
these  various  statements  Mr.  Carter  writes  as  follows : 

Increasing  importance  seems  to  be  given  to  the  dissemination 
of  art  ideas.  We  are  recognizing  more  and  more  that  familiarity 
with  these  ideas  is  fully  as  important  as  technical  skill  in  draw- 
ing and  painting.  It  is  also  to  be  noted  that  the  tendency  is 
increasing  to  connect  designing  with  work  in  material.  (P.  206.) 

Most  of  the  teachers  have  had  special  training.  Occasionally 
they  have  studied  at  home  and  abroad  with  the  aim  of  becom- 
ing artists,  and  have  afterwards  taken  up  teaching.  As  a  gen- 
eral thing  they  are  allowed  considerable  liberty  as  to  what  they 
teach  and  as  to  how  they  present  it.  As  a  consequence  courses 
of  study  present  considerable  variety.  (P.  209.) 


A  PSYCHOLOGICAL  INVESTIGATION 

In  the  field  of  graphic  art  many  studies  have  been  made 
of  children's  drawing,  but  these  relate,  for  the  most  part, 
to  an  earlier  period  than  that  in  which  we  are  interested  in 
dealing  with  the  high  school.  One  volume,  however,  which 
may  be  referred  to  as  a  strictly  psychological  discussion  is 
De  Boisbaudran's  monograph  entitled,  "  The  Training  of 

1  Charles  M.  Carter,  "Art  Education  in  the  High  Schools,"  in  Art  Edu- 
cation in  the  Public  Schools  of  the  United  States  (edited  by  J.  P.  Haney), 
pp. 201-242.  Published  by  the  American  Annual,  New  York,  1908. 


368    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

the  Memory  in  Art." 1  In  this  monograph  the  author  gives 
an  account  of  his  method  of  training  students  to  remember 
form  and  color.  The  whole  discussion  is  very  interesting 
to  the  psychologist  in  its  emphasis  upon  the  analyses  which 
are  to  be  made  of  objects,  in  order  that  the  student  may  be 
keen  in  his  memory  of  their  outlines  and  colors.  The  volume 
is  a  very  forcible  argument  for  the  kind  of  analysis  described 
in  the  paragraphs  in  the  foregoing  chapter  on  the  place  of 
drawing  in  science  instruction. 

Dow  ON  THE  TEACHING  OF  AET 

In  support  of  some  of  the  comments  which  have  been 
made  regarding  the  difficulty  of  denning  the  exact  purpose 
and  character  of  art  instruction  it  may  be  proper  to  quote 
at  length  the  hopeful  but  vague  statements  of  one  of  the 
leading  teachers  of  the  graphic  arts.2 

A  training  that  calls  for  a  very  direct  exercise  of  the  critical 
powers,  developing  judgment  and  skill,  is  a  training  that  will 
increase  the  individual's  efficiency  whatever  his  calling  may  be 

The  general  public  has  not  thought  of  art  education  in  this 
way,  but  has  acknowledged  the  value  of  "  drawing,"  especially 
when  it  can  serve  some  utilitarian  purpose. 

A  better  understanding  of  the  true  usefulness  of  art  recog- 
nizes creative  power  as  a  divine  gift,  the  natural  endowment 
of  every  human  soul,  showing  itself  at  first  in  the  form  that 
we  call  appreciation.  This  appreciation  leads  a  certain  number 
to  produce  actual  works  of  art,  greater  or  lesser,  —  perhaps  a 
temple,  perhaps  only  a  cup,  —  but  it  leads  the  majority  to  desire 
finer  form  and  more  harmony  of  tone  and  color  in  surroundings 
and  things  for  daily  use.  It  is  the  individual's  right  to  have 
full  control  of  these  powers. 

1  Translated  from  the  French  by  L.  D.  Luard.   The  Macmillan  Com- 
pany, 1911. 

2  A.  W.  Dow,  "Theory  and  Practice  of  Teaching  Art."  Published  by 
Teachers  College  as  a  reprint,  with  additional  plates  from  Teachers  College 
Record,  1908,  Vol.  IX,  No.  3,  p.  1. 


THE  FINE  ARTS  369 

Even  from  the  economic  side,  that  education  is  deficient 
which  leaves  one  unable  to  judge  of  form  and  color  when  he 
is  constantly  required  to  use  such  judgment.  This  lack  of 
appreciation  is  responsible  for  an  immense  waste  of  labor,  skill, 
and  money  in  the  production  of  useless  and  ugly  things.  Works 
of  fine  art  stand  among  the  things  which  the  world  prizes  most 
highly.  A  nation's  ideals  are  revealed  in  its  art,  and  its  art 
has  greatest  value  when  it  is  the  expression  of  the  spirit  of 
the  whole  people. 

In  a  sympathetic  public  is  found  the  life-giving  influence 
which  creates  works  of  fine  art,  and  the  measure  of  their  ex- 
cellence is  the  measure  of  the  nation's  appreciation. 

The  attainment  of  such  an  end  as  this  places  public  art 
education  above  a  mere  training  in  drawing,  painting  or  model- 
ing, and  above  the  so-called  practical  applications.  The  work 
must  be  organized  for  a  steady  growth  in  good  judgment  as  to 
form,  tone,  and  color,  through  all  grades  from  the  kindergarten 
to  the  university.  The  main  question  at  all  stages  is  whether 
the  art  work  of  the  school  is  making  this  good  red  blood  of 
appreciation  and  giving  to  the  individual  the  greatest  possi- 
ble encouragement  to  express  himself. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

HISTORY 
THE  RAPED  INCREASE  OF  HISTORY  COURSES 

History  courses  have  grown  very  rapidly  in  recent  years, 
both  in  the  number  of  courses  offered  and  in  student  regis- 
tration. While  the  courses  hi  science  have  grown  relatively 
less  popular,  and  while  the  subjects  which  were  formerly 
required  of  every  student,  such  as  mathematics  and  classics, 
have  been  falling  off,  history  has  steadily  gained.  There  is 
evidently  a  general  belief  on  the  part  of  school  authorities 
and  students  alike  that  history  serves,  in  a  very  important 
way,  the  interests  of  broad,  general  education. 

During  the  period  of  rapid  growth  of  historical  subjects 
there  have  arisen  many  questions  both  as  to  the  subject 
matter  and  methods.  The  reports  of  successive  committees 
of  the  American  Historical  Association,  and  of  certain  local 
associations  which  have  interested  themselves  in  the  organi- 
zation of  a  secondary  course,  all  make  it  clear  that  a  defini- 
tion of  history  is  more  difficult  than  a  definition  of  almost 
any  other  subject  in  the  curriculum.  The  types  of  judgment 
which  history  is  supposed  to  cultivate  in  the  student  and 
the  wide  range  of  facts  which  are  given  to  him  hi  the  history 
courses  distinguish  this  subject  from  the  other  subjects  of 
the  curriculum:  The  only  other  subject  which  approaches 
history  in  the  complexity  and  range  of  material  is  English, 
and,  as  we  have  seen  in  an  earlier  discussion,  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  organize  the  English  courses  satisfactorily  just 
because  of  the  variety  of  ends  which  different  teachers  seek 
to  attain  through  them. 

370 


HISTORY  371 

ADMINISTRATIVE  COMPLICATION  IN  ORGANIZING 
HISTORY 

One  becomes  clearly  conscious  of  the  difficulty  of  defin- 
ing history  if  he  examines  the  various  suggestions  which 
have  been  made  about  sequences  of  courses,  and  even  more 
if  he  examines  the  actual  practices  in  schools.  The  actual 
practices  depart  from  the  ideal  courses  which  are  laid  down 
by  committees  of  historians,  because  students  do  not  take 
the  full  series  of  electives  that  are  regarded  as  necessary  by 
the  authors  of  these  plans  for  a  complete  course  in  history. 
The  ideal  course  is  sometimes  based  upon  a  chronological 
sequence.  Ancient  history  is  to  be  followed  by  medieval 
and  modern  European  history.  These,  in  turn,  are  to  be 
followed  by  the  special  study  of  English  history  and  by  a 
final  course  in  American  history.  This  full  chronological 
plan,  however,  is  not  organized  so  that  all  of  its  parts  can  be 
taken  by  each  student.  The  student  in  the  classical  course 
is  sure  to  be  required  to  take  ancient  history.  Whether  he 
takes  any  other  history  or  not  depends  entirely  upon  the 
opportunities  which  the  elective  course  may  offer  him  and 
upon  his  ability  to  take  advantage  of  these  opportunities 
at  the  same  time  that  he  is  fulfilling  the  requirements  of 
the  college  which  he  expects  to  attend.  We  have  in  many 
cases,  accordingly,  the  spectacle  of  a  classical  student  thor- 
oughly trained  in  ancient  history  but  relatively  ignorant  of 
any  of  the  modern  periods.  On  the  other  hand,  the  student 
who  takes  one  of  the  modern-language  courses,  or  who  takes 
a  scientific  course,  very  frequently  is  content  to  elect  only 
a  single  modern-history  course  out  of  the  chronological 
sequence.  In  some  states  the  single  course  which  such  a 
student  takes  is  determined  by  law.  A  course  in  American 
history  is  required  of  every  graduate  of  the  high  school; 
and  this  is  the  only  course  in  history  which  many  students 
are  able  to  include  in  their  programs. 


372    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

Here  again  a  complication  grows  out  of  the  fact  that 
American  history  is  one  of  the  favorite  subjects  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  upper  grades  of  the  elementary  school.  It  is 
not  regarded  as  advisable,  therefore,  to  Include  it  in  the 
program  of  the  earlier  years  of  the  high-school  course.  The 
student  takes  American  history  in  such  cases  near  the  end 
of  his  high-school  course,  but  without  any  background  of 
European  history  or  any  knowledge  of  the  English  ante- 
cedents of  American  civilization. 


THE  VARIETY  OF  PURPOSES  AIMED  AT  BY  HISTORY 
COURSES 

Not  only  is  the  history  course  thus  broken  up  by  the 
miscellaneous  choices  made  by  students,  but  the  courses 
themselves  seldom  -show  any  clear  definition  of  purpose  or 
progression  of  method.  In  writing  for  Monroe's  "  Cyclo- 
pedia of  Education  "  l  Professor  Haskins  defines  the  proper 
sequence  of  historical  courses  as  follows : 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  historical  instruction,  attention  is 
given  particularly  to  the  teaching  of  a  few  simple  facts  and 
the  development  of  the  historical  imagination;  in  the  higher 
stages  the  number  of  facts  increases  and  more  emphasis  is  put 
upon  their  relations  and  political  and  social  significance,  and 
upon  the  acquisition  of  a  critical  and  impartial  habit  of  mind ; 
while  in  the  most  advanced  grades  of  instruction  the  student 
learns  to  find,  test,  and  combine  his  facts  for  himself  until  he 
is  able  to  undertake  independent  research. 

THE  DIFFICULTY  OF  ORGANIZING  COHERENT  COURSES 

This  definition  of  the  proper  sequence  of  historical 
methods  and  material  is,  however,  seldom  realized  in  the 
actual  practices  of  high  schools.  Indeed,  it  may  be  doubted 

i  Vol.  Ill,  p.  284.   The  Macmillan  Company,  1912. 


HISTORY  373 

whether  even  in  college  departments  of  history  a  definite 
sequence  of  this  sort  is  ever  followed.  It  is  not  an  un- 
familiar experience  of  the  student  to  find  that  the  course 
in  history  which  he  pursues  in  his  senior  year  is  no  more 
advanced  in  character  than  the  course  which  he  takes  in 
his  freshman  year.  The  subject  matter  has,  indeed,  changed 
somewhat;  it  may  in  some  cases  be  more  detailed  in  the 
later  course  than  in  the  early  course ;  but  there  is  no  obvi- 
ous progress  from  year  to  year  in  the  intellectual  require- 
ments which  are  made  in  the  successive  history  courses. 

In  this  respect  history  is  in  sharp  contrast  with  many  of 
the  other  subjects  in  the  curriculum.  The  course  in  Latin 
or  the  course  in  mathematics  carries  the  student  forward 
to  more  and  more  complicated  mental  operations  with  each 
change  in  the  subject  matter.  Science,  as  we  have  pointed 
out,  does  not  show  us  clearly  this  progressive  demand  upon 
the  student  in  successive  courses.  That  is  a  symptom  of 
immaturity  in  science  teaching  as  well  as  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  history  courses. 

The  lack  of  sequence  grows  in  part  out  of  the  fact 
that  any  course  in  history  may  make,  and  does  make,  a 
very  large  demand  upon  the  general  powers  of  the  stu- 
dent. Even  if  a  student  is  studying  the  relatively  simple 
material  of  biography,  he  has  an  opportunity  to  judge  of 
all  sorts  of  human  relations  in  a  complex  fashion  which 
makes  the  subject  of  history  from  the  outset  very  broad 
in  its  character  and  in  the  types  of  mental  activity  which 
it  should  include. 

HART  ON  THE  PURPOSE  OF  HISTORY  COURSES 

It  is  not  difficult  to  find  evidence  that  historians  them- 
selves recognize  the  complexity  of  history.  A  number  of 
quotations  may  be  given  to  show  the  extent  to  which  they 
have  pointed  out  this  complexity  of  their  subject.  In  the 


374     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

following  statement  Professor  Hart 1  indicates  a  number  of 
different  intellectual  methods  of  procedure  which  a  good 
history  course  ought  to  include.  Especial  emphasis  should 
be  laid  upon  the  latter  part  of  Professor  Hart's  statement, 
where  he  demands  more  than  mere  accumulation  of  facts. 

Let  us  now  pass  to  the  everyday  work  of  the  classroom.  In 
all  historical  teaching  the  first  principle  to  fix  in  the  mind  of 
pupil  and  teacher  is  the  importance  of  accurately  established 
facts,  and  the  second  principle  is  the  worthlessness  of  detached 
facts.  From  the  beginning,  it  should  be  understood  that  a  knowl- 
edge of  facts  is  not  a  knowledge  of  history ;  that  the  textbook 
simply  selects  and  groups  a  very  small  number  of  facts,  and 
that  the  essential  thing  is  to  know  how  facts  are  related  and 
what  they  mean  when  viewed  together.  There  are,  therefore, 
four  correlated  aims  which  the  teacher  must  keep  constantly  in 
mind.  He  must  teach  facts ;  and  for  that  purpose  the  textbook 
and  recitation  system  is  best  adapted.  He  must  show  the  rela- 
tions between  facts ;  and  lectures  and  talks  will  bring  out  those 
relations.  He  must  accustom  the  pupil  to  assemble  facts  for 
himself  and  to  test  them ;  the  topical  method  affords  the  nec- 
essary training.  He  must  lead  the  pupil  to  think  and  judge  a 
little  for  himself ;  the  preparation  of  topics  and  outside  read- 
ing will  induce  some  degree  of  independent  thought. 

THE  COMMITTEE  OF  FIVE  ON  THE  PURPOSE  OP 
HISTORY  COURSES 

The  Committee  of  Five,  which  has  recently  reviewed 
the  work  of  earlier  committees  and  expressed  a  very  ma- 
ture judgment  upon  the  proper  character  of  historical  work 
in  the  secondary  schools,  describes  the  course  in  history  in 
the  following  terms,  making  clear  its  general  position  that 
the  scope  of  such  a  course  is  very  broad.2 

1  History  in  High  and  Preparatory  Schools.  Reprinted  from  The  Acad- 
emy for  September  and  October,  1887,  p.  14. 

2  The  Study  of  History  in  Secondary  Schools.   Report  of  the  Commit- 
tee of  Five,  p.  14.   The  Macmillan  Company,  1912. 


HISTOKY  375 

But-  if  history  is  to  be  a  study  of  actual  educational  value 
and  culture,  if  the  boy  and  girl  are  to  be  given  insight  into 
social  life,  some  real  sense  of  time  and  movement,  and,  above 
all,  interest,  vital  interest,  in  books  and  facts,  the  teacher  must 
have  character,  enthusiasm,  and  knowledge.  Because  we  believe 
so  profoundly  in  the  helpfulness  of  historical  study,  the  neces- 
sity of  bringing  the  pupils  to  see  the  world  about  them  as  the 
product  of  past  ages,  the  value  of  learning  to  handle  books  and 
to  think  and  speak  clearly,  —  not  alone  of  quantities  in  algebra 
or  of  facts  in  physics,  but  of  human  doings, —  we  wish  here 
distinctly  to  state  our  belief  that  all  questions  of  curriculum 
are  comparatively  insignificant.  The  schools  have  a  right  to 
demand  teachers  that  are  prepared  to  teach  history  and  have 
the  ability  and  the  spirit  to  teach  it  right.  Public  schools,  sup- 
ported by  taxation,  that  are  content  with  the  old  idea  that  any- 
body can  teach  history,  that  anybody  can  trace  the  line  of  life 
through  the  past  and  give  his  pupils  the  spark  of  interest  and 
the  fire  of  useful  knowledge,  have,  in  our  opinion,  a  distorted 
conception  of  their  responsibility.  The  great  demand  of  the 
day  is  for  teachers  that  have  themselves  inhaled  the  breath  of 
enthusiasm,  and  that  have  knowledge,  skill  and  force. 

SEELEY  ON  THE  COMPLEXITY  OF  HISTOKY 

Contrasting  the  history  course  in  its  methods  and  com- 
plexity with  the  science  courses,  Professor  Seeley  has  made 
the  following  statement : l 

In  short,  science  brings  together  phenomena  of  the  same 
kind,  but  history  brings  together  phenomena  of  different  kinds, 
which  have  chanced  to  appear  at  the  same  time.  We  have  given 
to  history  the  conscientiousness  of  science,  but  we  have  not  yet 
given  it  the  arrangement  of  science.  We  still  arrange  historic 
phenomena  under  periods,  centuries,  reigns,  dynasties,  but  what 
is  wanted  is  a  real  rather  than  a  temporal  classification.  The 
phenomena  should  be  classed  under  such  headings  as  Constitu- 
tional, International,  Economical,  Industrial,  etc.  Nor  should 

1  Methods  of  Teaching  History,  Pedagogical  Library,  Vol.  I,  pp.  198- 
199.  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  1886. 


376    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

each  state  be  studied  by  itself,  but  all  states  together,  the  com- 
parative method  being  constantly  employed,  and  much  atten- 
tion being  given  to  the  classification  of  states. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  principle  would  be  almost  revolu- 
tionary if  it  were  at  once,  and  without  reserve,  applied  to  the 
teaching  of  history.  I  am  sensible  that  it  needs  to  be  explained 
at  great  length,  and  I  am  quite  aware  how  many  objections 
might  be  urged  against  it.  But  I  have  not  time  either  for  fuller 
exposition  or  for  dealing  with  objections,  and  Ijheref ore  in  the  re- 
mainder of  this  paper  I  shall  deal  with  an  intermediate  system 
which  might,  without  too  great  difficulty,  be  adopted  at  once. 

The  essential  point  is  this,  that  we  should  recognize  that  to 
study  history  is  to  study  not  merely  a  narrative,  but  at  the 
same  time  certain  theoretical  subjects.  Thus,  industrial  facts 
cannot  be  understood  without  political  economy,  nor  military 
facts  without  military  science,  nor  legal  facts  without  legal 
science,  nor  constitutional  and  legislative  developments  with- 
out political  science.  I  have  gone  further,  and  laid  it  down 
that  these  theoretical  subjects  are  the  real  object  for  which  his- 
torical facts  are  collected  and  authenticated.  But  for  the  pres- 
ent it  is  enough  that  they  should  be  recognized  as  inseparably 
connected  with  historical  study.  It  has  always  been  tacitly 
assumed  that  the  historian  is  also  an  economist,  an  authority 
on  constitutional  law,  on  legislation,  on  finance,  on  strategy. 
Let  us,  then,  go  a  single  step  further,  and  recognize  that,  as  the 
historian  is  all  this,  the  student  of  history  must  prepare  him- 
self to  be  all  this  —  in  other  words,  must  master  all-  these  sub- 
jects. These  are  the  great  subjects  of  public  life ;  these  are  the 
studies  which  make  the  citizen  and  train  the  statesman.  All 
the  poetic  charm  which  history  is  losing  would  be  amply  com- 
pensated if  it  should  acquire  in  exchange  the  practical  interest 
that  is  associated  with  these  studies. 


NATIONALISM  AS  AN  END  OF  HISTORY  TEACHING 

Furthermore,  it  is  possible  to  show  that  history  teachers 
are  not  entirely  clear  as  to  the  functions  of  their  subject  by 
reviewing  a  discussion  which  has,  of  late,  attracted  a  good 


HISTORY  377 

deal  of  attention.  The  earlier  teachers  of  history  never  ques- 
tioned at  all  the  statement  that  the  course  in  history  was  in- 
tended to  develop  a  spirit  of  intense  nationalism.  The  courses 
in  European  schools  have  long  served  explicitly  this  purpose 
of  training  the  youths  of  each  country  in  intense  devotion 
to  the  interests  of  that  country.  When  history  began  to 
find  its  place  in  the  American  course  of  study,  it  was 
natural  that  it  should  be  assumed  that  one  of  the  main 
purposes  of  the  course  is  to  cultivate  a  national  spirit. 
History  was  thus  made  to  serve  a  very  genuine  social  end 
in  the  course  of  study. 

Of  late,  however,  the  students  of  history  have  been  call- 
ing attention  to  the  fact  that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  pass 
judgments  upon  the  acts  of  nations  and  individuals  on  the 
basis  of  the  relatively  meager  knowledge  which  any  student 
of  history,  especially  an  elementary  student,  can  acquire. 
This  whole  discussion  is  made  very  clear  in  two  quotations 
which  may  here  be  inserted. 

The  study  of  United  States  history  should  infuse  into  the 
minds  of  American  youths  the  American  spirit,  a  benevolent 
disposition  toward  all  classes  of  American  citizens,  a  profound 
regard  for  all  sections  of  the  country,  an  admiration  for  free 
institutions,  a  willing  obedience  to  the  constitution  and  laws, 
and  a  deep  and  abiding  love  for  the  Union.1 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Committee  of  Seven2  takes  a 
position  exactly  opposed  to  that  taken  by  Allen.  This  com- 
mittee expresses  itself  very  pointedly  on  the  matter. 

The  corresponding  noteworthy  fact  is  that,  if  a  definite 
reason  for  the  study  of  history  is  presented,  it  is  the  factitious 
one  of  patriotism.  The  idea  that  the  chief  object  in  teaching 
history  is  to  teach  patriotism  is  so  thoroughly  ingrained,  not 

1  John  G.  Allen,  Topical  Studies  in  American  History,  p.  v.    Scran- 
torn,  Wetmore  &  Company. 

2  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Seven  on  History  Teaching,  p.  160, 
The  Macmillan  Company,  1899. 


378     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

only  in  America  but  in  other  countries,  that  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  combat  it.  Yet  it  must  be  evident  that  the  patriot- 
ism thus  advocated  is  more  or  less  a  spurious  one,  a  patriotism 
that  would  seek  to  present  distorted  ideas  of  the  past  with  the 
idea  of  glorifying  one  country  at  the  possible  expense  of  truth. 
If  the  facts  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War  should  be  used  both  in 
France  and  in  Germany  to  inculcate  this  kind  of  patriotism, 
diametrically  opposite  results  would  be  reached ;  if  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution  is  to  teach  this  patriotism  both  in  England  and 
in  America,  one  nation  or  the  other  must  be  illogical ;  if  the 
Northern  and  the  Southern  states  of  America  should  use  the 
facts  of  the  Civil  War  to  promote  either  a  national  or  a  sec- 
tional patriotism  of  this  character,  those  facts  would  have  to 
be  perverted.  That  the  ultimate  object  of  history,  as  of  all 
sciences,  is  the  search  for  truth,  and  that  that  search  entails 
the  responsibility  of  abiding  by  the  results  when  found,  is  yet 
to  be  learned  by  many  of  our  teachers  of  history. 

The  present  condition  of  instruction  in  history  in  the  schools 
is  open  to  criticism  for  another  reason.  The  curriculum  has  in 
many  cases  not  been  the  result  of  educational  experience  or  a 
product  of  educational  theory.  This  fact  explains  in  large  meas- 
ure the  prevailing  desire  to  use  history  as  a  vehicle  for  teach- 
ing patriotism.  It  probably  does  not  admit  of  question  that  the 
curriculum  of  the  public  schools  must  and  should  be  enacted  by 
the  state  legislatures,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  behind  these 
legislatures  should  be  organized  bodies  of  competent  advisers 
to  whose  decisions  on  educational  matters  the  state  legislatures 
should  give  the  weight  of  their  authority  rather  than  them- 
selves assume  the  initiative. 

INTRICACY  OF  MORAL  JUDGMENTS 

If  wa  attempt  to  reduce  this  discussion  to  its  psycho- 
logical terms,  we  may  make  some  such  .statement  as  the 
following:  No  person  is  in  a  position  to  pass  judgment 
upon  the  moral  character  of  any  act  unless  he  understands 
thoroughly  all  of  the  conditions  which  surround  the  act. 
In  order  to  understand  historical  relations  fully  one  needs 


HISTORY  379 

to  have  such  a  view  of  the  historical  situation  as  it  is 
extremely  difficult  for  a  modern  student  to  acquire.  The 
modern  student  is,  in  the  first  place,  guided  in  all  of  his 
judgments  by  an  established  mode  of  thought  which  is 
peculiar  to  his  own  generation.  We  have  certain  notions  in 
this  day  about  the  treatment  of  colonies,  for  example,  that 
are  wholly  different  from  the  notions  that  obtained  at  the 
time  that  England  was  in  controversy  with  her  American 
colonies.  The  notions  that  we  now  entertain  are  the  results 
of  long  historical  periods  which  have  recorded  themselves 
in  the  literature  and  language  of  our  people.  The  youth  of 
to-day  is  introduced  directly  to  these  political  and  ethical 
ideas  without  any  special  reference  to  the  earlier  controver- 
sies out  of  which  the  present  notions  have  grown.  When, 
therefore,  he  is  suddenly  carried  back  in  his  historical  stud- 
ies to  situations  that  differ  altogether  from  the  situations 
that  now  confront  him,  he  is  likely  to  carry  back,  without 
being  fully  aware  of  the  fallacy  of  his  procedure,  those 
standards  of  judgment  and  canons  of  ethical  thought  which 
constitute  his  present  inheritance.  He  judges,  in  other 
words,  by  modern  standards,  situations  which  are  in  char- 
acter wholly  different  from  those  of  to-day.  . 

MEMORY  AND  HISTORICAL  MATERIALS  DEFECTIVE 

There  is  another  way  of  expressing  the  same  matter.  We 
may  say  that  any  individual  is  always  hazy  in  his  efforts  to 
recall  past  situations.  His  memory  images  are  only  partial. 
What  is  true  of  the  individual  is  true  also  of  the  race.  Its 
memories  of  its  earlier  struggles  are  incomplete.  The  diffi- 
culty of  recording,  as  well  as  the  difficulty  of  recognizing, 
the  full  details  of  any  situation  will  always  hamper  the  his- 
torian. The  result  is  that  the  memory  of  the  race  is  more 
defective  than  the  memory  of  an  individual  who  tries  to 
recall  his  own  past  experiences. 


380    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

This  defective  material  is,  however,  regarded  by  the  stu- 
dent as  an  adequate  basis  for  a  final  judgment  as  to  relative 
merits.  He  will  more  commonly  err  in  his  judgments  than 
be  right  if  he  takes  the  position  that  his  history  is  complete 
and  his  knowledge  adequate.  The  historians,  therefore,  are 
striving,  so  far  as  they  can,  to  impress  upon  teachers  and 
students  the  necessity  of  being  very  cautious  in  condemning 
or  eulogizing  those  who  are  described  in  history.  One  should 
be  slow  to  pass  moral  judgments  upon  any  historical  char- 
acter. At  the  same  time,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  his- 
torical material  stimulates  any  student  to  just  this  sort  of 
consideration  of  the  ethical  values  of  all  sorts  of  human 
relations.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  conduct  a  high-school 
course  in  American  history  which  does  not  present  to  the 
student  again  and  again  the  opportunities  for  forming  his 
own  judgments  about  the  propriety  of  certain  historical 
acts.  It  is  inherent  in  history,  as  a  subject,  that  it  stimu- 
lates all  sorts  of  human  judgments.  The  student's  imagina- 
tion is  kindled  by  the  accounts  given  of  human  activities, 
and  his  sympathies  are  aroused  in  spite  of  every  effort  that 
he  may  make  to  keep  his  mind  open  for  an  impartial  judg- 
ment. The  effort  of  the  historian,  therefore,  to  describe 
history  as  a  scientific  subject  is  likely  to  fail  to  persuade  an 
elementary  student  whose  human  sympathies  are  aroused 
by  the  narrative  which  he  reads. 

CHRONOLOGICAL  JUDGMENT  MUST  BE  TRAINED 

There  is  one  type  of  special  judgment  which  may  be 
regarded  as  peculiar  to  history.  The  student  must  learn, 
through  his  historical  studies,  to  have  a  proper  judgment 
with  regard  to  time  and  the  sequence  of  events  in  time. 
The  Committee  of  Five  has  called  attention  in  an  interest- 
ing way  to  the  importance  of  training  students  in  this  mat- 
ter of  time  judgments.  This  report  recommends  that  the 


HISTORY  381 

division  between  ancient  and  medieval  history  be  set  at 
the  year  800  rather  than  at  the  year  476.  The  reason  for 
this  recommendation,  as  given  in  the  report,  is  that  if  the 
earlier  date  is  chosen  the  student  is  likely  to  think  of  an- 
cient civilization  as  wholly  set  off  from  modern  civilization. 
In  this  case  the  student  loses  the  continuity  of  civilization 
and  has  a  distorted  chronological  idea. 

This  single  example  can  be  elaborated  by  other  examples 
from  the  experience  of  students.  We  may  properly  refer 
to  the  fact  that  little  children  in  the  elementary  schools 
have  no  more  notion  of  periods  of  time  than  they  have  of 
great  spatial  areas.  The  little  child  beginning  his  study  of 
geography  is  seriously  handicapped  by  the  fact  that  he  has 
never  seen  any  large  land  areas.  The  space  world,  as  he 
learns  about  it,  is  symbolical  and  abstract.  In  the  same 
way  the  child  has  difficulty  with  time.  Indeed,  his  difficulty 
with  time  is  even  greater  than  his  difficulty  with  space.  Lit- 
tle children  very  seldom  know  the  difference  between  yester- 
day and  the  day  before.  Then-  memories  are  confused  with 
regard  to  the  dating  of  past  experiences.  As  they  grow 
older  and  have  behind  them  a  whole  series  of  years  of 
experience,  they  gain  somewhat  in  ability  to  think  of  time 
and  to  mark  off  the  different  epochs  of  then"  own  personal 
experience ;  but  the  long  ranges  of  time  continue  to  be 
extremely  difficult  for  them  to  imagine  and  to  fill  up  with 
historical  events.  The  meager  outlines  of  history  which  are 
given  to  them  pass  over  centuries  with  a  few  isolated  state- 
ments which  make  it  quite  impossible  for  the  child  to  com- 
prehend anything  about  the  actual  time  units  with  which 
history  deals.  If  his  historical  material  is  arranged  in  such  a 
way  that  one  body  of  descriptions  stops  at  a  certain  definite 
date  and  a  later  body  of  information  begins  at  a  later  date, 
there  will  be,  exactly  as  the  Committee  of  Five  has  pointed 
out,  a  break  in  his  thought  about  historical  sequences.  His 
whole  study  of  time  is  abstract.  When  dates  are  given  to 


382    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

him  in  such  a  way  as  to  mark  breaches  between  different 
types  of  civilization,  the  dates  will  be  very  impressive  in 
controlling  his  abstract  thought  about  civilization. 

DEVICES  FOR  TRAINING  OF  CHRONOLOGICAL  JUDGMENT 

Various  devices  have  at  different  times  been  used  in 
school  work  to  overcome  this  difficulty  of  establishing  ade- 
quate chronological  notions  in  history.  In  the  older  courses 
a  pictured  stream  of  events  was  often  hung  on  the  wall  so 
as  to  keep  constantly  before  the  child's  mind  the  continuity 
and  breadth  of  the  centuries  through  which  he  was  supposed 
to  pass  in  his  historical  studies.  The  complexity  of  such  a 
graphic  chart  becomes  so  great  if  one  studies  in  detail  any 
historical  period  that  the  charts  which  were  familiar  on  the 
walls  of  school  buildings  a  generation  or  two  ago  have 
gradually  been  eliminated  because  the  amount  of  material 
which  the  student  is  supposed  to  compass  has  increased  to 
such  an  extent  that  these  charts  are  no  longer  acceptable. 

Sometimes  teachers  attempt  to  substitute  a  series  of  defi- 
nite points  in  history  for  the  picture  of  the  whole  sequence  of 
events.  The  student  is  required  to  learn  a  set  of  important 
dates.  Here  again  the  difficulty  is  to  limit  the  emphasis  which 
shall  be  given  to  particular  dates,  and  there  is  grave  danger 
that  the  student's  experience  will  be  more  broken  up  and  sub- 
divided by  these  dates  than  developed  into  a  single  continuity. 

The  abandonment  of  the  chart  device  and  the  difficulty 
of  getting  a  useful  series  of  dates  should  not  lead  teachers 
to  neglect  the  task  of  cultivating  in  students  a  system 
of  chronological  judgments.  Students  must  be  taught  the 
meaning  of  a  century  and  of  a  decade.  They  must  learn 
to  arrange  events  in  sequence  and  in  parallel.  It  requires 
constant  attention  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  to  render 
these  judgments  clear  and  adequate,  but  the  task  is  one  of 
the  essential  aspects  of  history  teaching. 


HISTORY  383 

CAUSAL  JUDGMENT 

A  second  type  of  judgment  which  is  frequently  empha- 
sized in  historical  study  is  the  causal  judgment  which  the 
student  is  supposed  to  cultivate  in  the  presence  of  historical 
facts.  The  Committee  of  Five  has  commented  on  this  mat- 
ter as  follows : 

History  cultivates  the  judgment  by  leading  the  pupil  to  see 
the  relation  between  cause  and  effect,  as  cause  and  effect  appear 
in  human  affairs.  We  do  not  mean  by  this  that  his  attention 
should  be  directed  solely  to  great  moving  causes,  or  that  he 
should  study  what  is  sometimes  called  the  u  philosophy  of  his- 
tory "  —  far  from  it ;  nor  do  we  mean  that  time  should  be 
consumed  in  discussing  the  meaning  of  facts  when  the  facts 
themselves  are  not  known.  But  history  has  to  do  with  the 
becoming  of  past  events, —  not  simply  with  what  was,  but  with 
what  came  to  be,  —  and  in  studying  the  simplest  forms  of  his- 
torical narrative  even  the  average  pupil  comes  to  see  that  one 
thing  leads  to  another;  he  begins  quite  unconsciously  to  see 
that  events  do  not  simply  succeed  each  other  in  time,  but  that 
one  grows  out  of  another,  or  rather  out  of  a  combination  of 
many  others.  Thus,  before  the  end  of  the  secondary  course, 
the  well-trained  pupil  has  acquired  some  power  in  seeing  rela- 
tionships and  detecting  analogies.  While  it  is  perfectly  true 
that  the  generalizing  faculty  is  developed  late,  and  that  the 
secondary  pupil  will  often  learn  unrelated  data  with  ease,  if 
not  with  avidity,  ;it  is  equally  true  that  history  in  the  hands 
of  the  competent  teacher  is  a  great  instrument  for  developing 
in  the  pupil  capacity  for  seeing  underlying  reasons  and  for 
comprehending  motives.  (P.  21.) 

FORMAL  STATEMENT  OF  RESULTS  VERSUS  JUDGMENT 

The  danger  which  arises  in  attempting  to  train  students 
of  history  to  acquire  causal  judgments  is  similar  to  that 
which  was  discussed  in  an  earlier  chapter  in  commenting 
on  the  serious  difficulty  of  getting  students  to  do  scientific 


384     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

thinking  for  themselves.  Most  of  the  causes  and  effects 
which  students  of  history  really  canvass  in  their  school  work 
are  given  to  them  as  the  result  of  someone  else's  thought 
rather  than  as  a  result  of  their  own  reaction  upon  the  sit- 
uations which  they  study.  They  learn  a  list  of  causes  and 
a  list  of  effects,  substituting  this  purely  formal  list  for  any 
genuine,  personal  thought  about  the  situations  under  ex- 
amination. It  is  not  necessary  here  to  recanvass  the  com- 
ments which  were  made  in  the  chapter  on  the  teaching  of 
science ;  it  is  enough  to  point  out  that  the  causal  relations 
in  history  are  by  no  means  as  obvious  as  the  causal  relations 
in  science.  History  is  in  this  respect,  therefore,  a  much 
more  complicated  subject  than  science  as  an  instrument 
for  teaching  children  to  pass  causal  judgments.  Causes 
in  human  society  and  in  human  behavior  are  frequently  so 
obscure  that  they  become  matters  of  speculation  if  they 
are  commented  upon  at  all.  This  does  not  prove  by  any 
means  that  causal  discussions  should  be  eliminated  from  the 
history  course,  but  it  does  make  it  perfectly  clear  that  the 
teacher  who  lays  great  stress  upon  causal  relations  is  deal- 
ing with  a  more  complex  type  of  material  in  history  than 
in  any  other  subject  of  the  curriculum. 

THE  CRITICAL  EXAMINATION  OF  HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE 

Finally,  as  has  been  frequently  pointed  out,  history  is 
designed  to  create  in  the  mind  of  the  student  a  critical 
attitude  toward  the  evidences  which  are  presented  to  him 
in  historical  narratives.  This  statement  may  be  subdivided 
into  two  special  statements  of  the  way  in  which  this  train- 
ing may  be  given.  In  the  first  place,  historical  evidence  is 
very  largely  a  matter  of  documents.  The  student  must 
therefore  become  familiar  with  the  use  of  books.  Indeed, 
it  may  be  pointed  out,  without  fear  of  dispute,  that  the 
history  course,  if  properly  conducted,  is  more  likely  than 


HISTORY  3&5 

any  other  course  in  the  school  to  familiarize  the  student 
with  methods  of  using  the  library  for  reference.  He  must 
come  in  contact  with  the  sources  of  his  material.  Critical 
judgment  will  naturally  develop  during  the  student's  effort 
to  secure  his  material. 

There  is  a  higher  form  of  critical  judgment  which  comes 
not  through  the  mere  collection  of  material  but  through 
the  comparison  of  different  authorities  with  each  other. 
This  higher  form  of  critical  judgment  has  sometimes  been 
essayed  in  the  secondary  schools.  It  has  been  assumed 
that  students  can  be  brought  in  contact  with  old  newspapers 
and  with  the  reminiscences  of  some  of  the  older  members 
of  the  community,  and  that  they  will  be  able,  through  a 
comparison  of  the  information  collected  from  these  differ- 
ent sources,  to  develop  the  true  narrative  of  historical 
events.  In  the  main  it  has  been  found  that  elementary 
students  are  not  competent  to  carry  on  any  large  amount 
of  work  with  original  sources.  It  appears,  on  the  other 
hand,  to  be  very  stimulating  for  any  student  to  be  brought 
into  contact  with  some  of  the  original  sources.  Undoubtedly 
extracts  from  contemporary  writings  constitute  a  very  le- 
gitimate part  of  the  collateral  reading  for  any  historical 
course ;  but  the  assumption  that  this  can  be  made  the  sole 
or  leading  method  of  instruction  in  secondary  schools  has 
proved  itself  to  be  in  opposition  to  the  experiences  of  those 
who  have  attempted  to  use  the  source  method  in  secondary- 
school  instruction.  The  psychological  reason  for  the  ina- 
bility of  secondary-school  students  to  study  merely  sources 
is  not  far  to  seek.  The  weighing  of  evidence  requires  a 
detached,  impersonal  attitude  which  is  not  easy  for  a 
student  to  assume.  Furthermore,  the  complexity  of  such 
problems  of  the  comparison  of  evidence  takes  the  student's 
attention  away  from  the  central  historical  sequence  which 
he  is  supposed  to  be  following,  with  the  result  that  he  gets 
no  adequate  historical  narrative.  In  general  the  sifting  of 


886     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

evidence  is  the  business  of  the  specialist.  The  elementary 
student  gets  his  best  view  of  the  course  of  events  if  he 
is  saved  the  complexities  of  research. 

TRAINING  IMAGINATION 

One  of  the  strictly  psychological  topics  which  has  fre- 
quently been  made  the  subject  of  comment  in  the  reports 
of  committees  on  history  courses  is  the  subject  of  imagina- 
tion and  the  part  which  it  plays  in  historical  courses.  The 
report  of  the  Committee  of  Seven  was  criticized  in  some 
quarters  because  it  assumed  on  the  part  of  high-school 
students  a  power  of  abstraction  which  the  experience  of 
teachers  did  not  justify.  The  Committee  of  Five,  in  can- 
vassing this  question,  evidently  sees  the  wisdom  of  empha- 
sizing in  the  high-school  course  the  cultivation  of  a  great 
deal  of  concrete  imagery  on  the  part  of  students.  Their 
comment  on  this  matter  is  as  follows : 

The  secondary  pupil  must  deal  with  real  facts  and  with  real 
men,  with  institutions  as  men  worked  in  them  and  with  them ; 
he  must  have  time  to  think  and  read  as  well  as  to  learn.  We 
must  not  forget  that  history  merits  a  place  in  the  curriculum 
because  of  its  distinctly  educational  value;  by  it  the  pupil 
learns  how  the  toil  and  labor  of  the  past  generations  made  the 
present ;  he  learns  to  read  and  think  of  social  problems.  Such 
ends  are  not  attained  by  any  unreal  and  impersonal  treatment 
of  institutions  and  processes,  or  by  the  memorizing  of  chrono- 
logical outlines.  (P.  22.) 

Ancient  history  must  be  made  simpler  and  less  abstract; 
more  attention  must  be  paid  to  great  men,  less  to  the  history 
of  institutions ;  more  time  must  be  given  to  simple  studies  of 
art  and  habits  of  life ;  wars  that  mean  nothing  must  be  omitted, 
and  time  must  be  gained  for  easy,  familiar  talks  and  lessons 
about  things  that  pupils  of  fourteen  can  understand.  Consti- 
tutional details  must  give  place  to  pictures  and  to  stories  of 
the  great  deeds  and  achievements  of  antiquity.  An  attempt 
to  show  just  how  this  can  be  done  would  be  out  of  place  here. 


HISTORY  387 

There  is  an  undoubted  demand  for  textbooks  that  will  aid  the 
teachers  in  this  difficult  task ;  and  there  is  need  of  abundant 
and  cheap  illustrative  material.  But  the  task  must  rest  with  the 
teacher.  Difficult  as  it  is,  there  is  reason  for  thinking  that  it  will 
be  mastered.  We  feel  confidence  in  saying  that  there  is  no  other 
field  of  history  so  rich  in  materials  of  human  interest  and  which 
can  be  made  more  vivid  and  comprehensible;  but  pupils  will 
probably  not  be  fired  to  enthusiasm  by  the  reforms  of  Clisthenes, 
the  duties  of  archons,  the  campaigns  of  the  Samnite  war,  or  the 
technicalities  of  the  Roman  constitution.  (P.  36.) 

There  can  be  no  doubt  at  all  that  the  reconstruction  of 
historical  scenes  is  one  of  the  best  devices  for  elementary 
instruction  in  history.  It  must,  indeed,  be  kept  in  mind 
that  the  historical  course  cannot  deal  exclusively  with  the 
mere  description  of  events ;  but  there  is  so  much  that  is  in- 
volved in  the  true  representation  of  past  situations  that  the 
student  is  likely  by  this  method  to  get  a  training  in  historical 
criticism  and  historical  judgment  which  he  cannot  get  if  he 
is  not  required  to  be  exact  and  accurate  in  his  descriptions. 

DEVICES  FOR  STIMULATING  AND  DIRECTING 
IMAGINATION 

A  method  which  has  of  late  come  into  vogue  for  histor- 
ical study  is  the  dramatic  method  of  presenting  historical 
events.  The  historical  drama,  like  all  imaginary  pictures 
which  the  student  must  develop,  calls  for  the  careful  scru- 
tiny of  much  material.  Students  learn  a  great  deal  about 
Roman  history  from  an  effort  to  dramatize  Julius  Csesar. 
Their  attention  is  called  to  details  of  costume  and  details 
of  social  life  which  they  would  pass  over  if  these  were  pre- 
sented merely  in  verbal  form  without  any  clear  appreciation 
of  their  meaning  or  exact  character.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  vividness  of  the  dramatic 
presentation  is  so  great  that  there  is  danger  of  substituting 
the  scene,  as  partially  worked  out  in  the  drama,  for  the 


388     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

more  complete  personal  idea  which  the  student  would  have 
to  cultivate  if  the  drama  had  not  been  worked  out  for  him. 

The  difficulty  which  is  here  pointed  out  is  akin  to  that 
which  was  pointed  out  in  discussing  solid  geometry,  where 
attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  many  teachers  in  solid 
geometry  prefer  to  get  on  without  a  model  of  the  figure 
which  the  students  are  studying.  The  reason  there  presented 
was  that  students  fail  to  cultivate  their  imaginations  just  in 
the  degree  in  which  they  are  relieved  from  exercising  their 
imaginations  through  the  presence  of  real  objects. 

So  here,  if  the  historical  drama  is  too  vivid  the  student 
may  substitute  that  which  he  sees  for  that  which  he  ought 
to  work  out  in  his  own  thought.  This  difficulty  is  in  some 
measure  corrected  by  the  historical  pageant,  which  in  many 
cases  is  a  substitute  for  the  drama.  The  historical  pageant 
merely  reviews  the  figures  involved  in  historical  scenes, 
giving  some  of  the  details  of  their  appearance,  but  does 
not  attempt  to  work  out  in  detail  all  of  their  activities. 
There  is,  therefore,  a  stronger  appeal  to  the  imagination  of 
the  student  in  the  pageant  than  in  the  drama. 

INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  AS  A  SUBSTITUTE  FOR 
POLITICAL,  HISTORY 

One  direction  in  which  recent  history  studies  have  aimed 
to  cultivate  the  thought  and  imagination  of  students  more 
completely  than  was  formerly  the  practice  is  in  the  direc- 
tion of  a  full  knowledge  of  the  historical  life  of  the  common 
people.  History  has  been  remote  from  the  experience  of 
the  ordinary  student  because  the  characters  dealt  with  have 
been  exclusively  the  leaders  in  the  political  and  military 
world.  If  history  is  to  be  utilized  by  the  ordinary  student 
in  cultivating  any  appreciative  knowledge  of  earlier  periods, 
he  must  have,  as  a  part  of  his  subject  of  thought,  the  life 
of  people  who,  like  himself,  move  in  the  common  planes. 


HISTORY  389 

History  of  the  purely  military  or  political  type  has  proved 
to  be  so  barren  for  the  student  that  there  was  a  great  recoil 
from  the  formalism  of  this  type  of  content.  This  recoil  from 
purely  political  history  shows  again  how  the  historical  course 
aims  to  cultivate  the  personal  sympathies  and  personal  judg- 
ments of  all  the  students.  There  can  be  no  'doubt  that  his- 
tory makes  a  large  advance  just  in  the  degree  in  which  it 
arouses  in  the  student  those  more  intimate  forms  of  sym- 
pathy and  judgment  which  are  needed  to  put  the  individual 
in  contact  with  the  full  life  of  earlier  generations. 

APPLICATION  OF  HISTORY  TO  PRESENT  CONDITIONS 

Writers  on  history  frequently  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  students  ought  to  be  able  to  apply  the  history  which 
they  read  to  the  present.  This  application  must  often  take 
the  form  of  contrast.  The  student  is  made  vividly  aware 
of  present  modes  of  institutional  life  by  having  his  atten- 
tion drawn  to  the  fact  that  other  nations  and  other  ages 
have  dealt  with  situations  in  a  way  wholly  different  from 
that  which  he  observes  in  present  institutions.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  application  of  history  to  present  institutions  may 
take  a  more  direct  form  if  the  student  is  made  acquainted 
with  the  reason  for  the  present  mode  of  organization.  Take 
such  an  institution  as  the  United  States  Congress  with  its 
two  Houses.  What  is  the  historical  origin  of  this  body  ? 
We  have  here  an  interesting  constitutional  question  whicb 
can  be  discussed  from  the  point  of  view  of  its  history  in  such 
a  way  as  to  make  the  student  clearly  aware  of  the  reason 
for  the  dual  organization  of  this  legislative  body. 

A  very  productive  suggestion  has  recently  been  made  in 
the  method  of  historical  presentation,  in  that  some  event  of 
crucial  significance  in  the  life  of  the  nation  has  been  made 
the  starting  point  for  a  backward  inquiry  as  to  the  causes 
that  led  up  to  this  particular  event.  If  one  could  determine 


390     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

step  by  step  the  different  conditions  that  had  made  inevi- 
table the  present  situation,  he  would  have  an  historical 
study  which,  in  its  applications,  would  be  perfectly  obvi- 
ous since  the  historical  study  would  be  undertaken  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  an  explanation  of  the  present  situation. 
In  general,  history  begins  at  the  chronologically  remote 
point,  and  the  application  to  the  present  is  reserved  for  a 
later  period  of  the  course.  Application  thus  becomes  an 
extremely  difficult  part  of  the  work.  It  would  be  inter- 
esting for  some  vigorous  secondary-school  teacher  to  try 
the  experiment  which,  as  indicated  in  the  foregoing  para- 
graph, has  been  tried  in  more  advanced  courses  offered 
to  research  students. 

HISTORY  A  CENTER  OF  CORRELATIONS 

History,  more  than  any  other  subject  in  the  curriculum, 
has  been  studied  with  regard  to  its  correlation  to  other 
subjects.  The  Herbartians  called  attention  to  the  impor- 
tance of  history  as  a  central  subject  in  the  curriculum.  In 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  training  of  the  younger  members 
of  the  race  is  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  historical  devel- 
opment of  the  race,  it  seems  very  natural  to  point  out  that 
historical  studies  can  be  utilized  as  the  best  instruments  for 
introducing  children  to  the  institutions  in  which  they  must 
live.  The  Herbartians,  therefore,  would  make  the  historical 
narrative  the  basis  for  the  development  of  all  of  the  other 
forms  of  school  work.  They  would  allow  science  to  attach 
itself  to  the  historical  narrative  and  to  receive  that  emphasis 
which  can  be  justified  by  reference  to  the  relations  between 
science  and  industry.  Especially  would  they  show  the  re- 
lation between  geography  and  history,  calling  attention  to 
the  fact  that  the  movements  of  races  and  their  economic 
undertakings  all  depend  on  the  physical  environment  in 
which  they-  grow  up. 


HISTORY  391 

All  of  these  correlations  between  history  and  the  other 
subjects  emphasize  the  fact,  which  has  been  pointed  out  again 
and  again  in  this  discussion,  that  history  is  a  very  broad  sub- 
ject in  its  content  and  in  the  judgments  which  it  aims 
to  cultivate  in  students.  There  is  one  practical  suggestion 
which  tends  to  utilize  the  possibility  of  correlating  history 
with  other  subjects  and  serves  at  the  same  time  to  supply 
a  way  out  of  a  difficulty  mentioned  in  an  earlier  discussion. 
It  has  been  recommended  thai  a  good  deal  of  the  English 
work  which  is  now  apparently  without  motive  and  lacking 
in  proper  content  could  be  made  more  productive  if  the 
time  that  is  consumed  in  aimless  writing  and  reading  trivial 
material  could  be  related  hi  some  way  to  the  requirements 
of  the  history  course.  At  all  events,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
at  all  that  a  broad  subject  like  history  invites  a  broader 
type  of  training  than  most  of  the  special  subjects  in  the 
curriculum.  The  teacher  of  history  should  be  sufficiently 
interested  in  these  relations  to  work  out  material  which  will 
satisfy  the  legitimate  demand  for  correlation  of  his  subject 
with  the  other  courses. 

Finally,  in  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
demand  is  being  felt  more  than  ever  for  a  study  of  the  history 
of  industry.  This  demand  grows  out  of  the  development 
of  technical  courses  in  secondary  schools,  which  technical 
courses  are  demanding  the  same  kind  of  academic  back- 
ground as  that  which  has  heretofore  been  provided  for  the 
other  subjects  of  the  curriculum. 

The  remaining  topics  which  might  be  taken  up  in  dis- 
cussing history  as  a  special  subject  are  topics  which  have 
already  been  touched  upon  in  discussing  other  subjects  in 
the  curriculum,  and  we  may  with  propriety  turn  over  to 
a  series  of  general  chapters  such  problems  as  discipline, 
methods  of  study,  and  the  organization  of  the  students' 
curriculum. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE 

ATTACKS  ON  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  FORMAL  DISCIPLINE 

Discussions  of  formal  discipline  have  been  carried  on 
with  vigor  and  keen  partisan  feeling  during  the  last  two 
decades.  The  report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten l  stimulated 
Professor  Hinsdale2  and  others  to  open  the  discussion  in 
terms  of  Herbartian  psychology  and  pedagogy.  Following 
this  report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten  came  a  series  of  statis- 
tical investigations  and  experiments  lay  students  of  educa- 
tional psychology.  Those  who  are  not  interested  especially 
in  the  scientific  study  of  education  have  been  drawn  into 
the  controversy.  The  discussion  was  taken  up  by  the 
opponents  of  the  classics  who  found  that  the  arguments 
in  favor  of  the  teaching  of  the  classics  in  the  schools  were 
couched  in  a  terminology  which  made  the  classicists  appear 
as  the  natural  defenders  of  the  doctrine  of  discipline.  At- 
tacks on  the  doctrine  were  especially  welcome  to  representa- 
tives of  the  new  subjects  which  base  their  claims  for  their 
reception  into  the  course  of  study  upon  the  rich  variety  of 
content  which  they  offer  to  the  student.  The  sciences,  for 
example,  have  been  assumed  to  contain  so  much  valuable 
information  capable  of  practical  application  to  the  activities 
of  ordinary  life  that  the  advocates  of  these  subjects  have 
been  very  glad  to  see  the  classics  under  fire  because  of  their 

1  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten.    Published  separately  by  the 
American  Book  Company,  1894. 

2  Address  by  B.  A.  Hinsdale,  "The  Dogma  of  Formal  Discipline," 
Proceedings  of  the  National  Education  Association,  1894,  p.  625. 

392 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  393 

alleged  inability  to  furnish  training  that  can  be  recognized 
as  of  immediate  practical  value. 

It  will  be  noted  from  the  foregoing  remarks  that  the  dis- 
cussion has  been  from  the  outset  of  a  partisan  type,  and  to-day 
it  bears  all  of  the  marks  of  an  intense  partisan  controversy. 
There  is  very  little  sobriety  of  statement  on  either  side. 
The  classicists,  still  feeling  that  they  must  defend  their  sub- 
jects as  giving  a  type  of  mental  training  which  will  be  val- 
uable to  the  student,  and  rinding  that  the  very  terms  which 
they  employ  are  under  criticism  by  students  of  educational 
psychology,  are  bitter  in  their  counter  attacks  upon  every- 
body, including  students  of  the  science  of  education.  In 
some  cases  they  have  felt  it  necessary  to  go  so  far  as  to  assert 
that  there  is  nothing  at  all  in  the  science  of  education.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  opponents  of  the  classics  have  made  the 
most  extreme  statements,  holding  that  the  argument  that 
a  subject  disciplines  the  mind  is  an  absolutely  unacceptable 
ground  for  the  admission  or  continuance  of  any  subject  in 
the  school  curriculum. 

EXTREME  CRITICS  ASK  FOR  REFORMULATION 

There  are  some  evidences  that  this  partisan  discussion 
has  reached  its  climax  and  that  we  are  now  in  a  position  to 
take  up  the  serious  scientific  discussion  of  the  doctrine  of 
formal  discipline  and  its  meaning.  For  example,  Thorndike, 
who  has  long  posed  as  one  of  the  strongest  opponents  of 
the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline,  writes  in  the  second  vol- 
ume of  his  "  Educational  Psychology  "  1  as  follows : 

These  experimental  facts  as  a  whole,  like  those  concerning 
memorizing,  leave  a  rather  confused  impression  on  one's  mind, 
and  resist  organization  into  any  simple  statement  of  how  far 
the  improvement  wrought  by  special  practice  spreads  beyond 
the  function  primarily  exercised.  They  do,  however,  at  least 

1  E.  L.  Thorndike,  Educational  Psychology  ;  Vol.  II,  The  Psychology 
of  Learning,  pp.  417,  418.  Teachers  College,  1913. 


394     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

put  out  of  court  the  old  doctrine  of  a  very  wide  spread  of  a 
very  large  percentage  of  the  special  improvement.  Possibly 
nobody  really  believed  that  the  improvement  made  in  reasoning 
about  Latin  syntax  would  spread  equally,  or  almost  equally, 
to  all  or  nearly  all  varieties  of  reasoning ;  but  men  wrote  as 
if  they  believed  substantially  this.  Certainly  nobody  can  now 
believe  it  in  the  face  of  these  experiments. 

It  is  indeed  doubtful  whether  anyone  ever  held  the  ex- 
treme views  sometimes  described  by  the  opponents  of  the 
doctrine  of  formal  discipline.  This  fundamental  ambiguity 
is  amusingly  illustrated  in  such  cases  as  the  following.  We 
find  O'Shea1  complaining  bitterly  because  he  cannot  find  any- 
one who  will  state  the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline  in  such 
a  way  that  he  can  attack  it  to  his  heart's  content.  He  says : 

Those  who  profess  to  believe  in  the  virtues  of  formal  mental 
discipline  are  still  not  willing  to  carry  it  to  its  logical  conclu- 
sions. They  will  not  say  that  any  particular  sort  of  mental 
activity  will  benefit  the  mind  on  every  side.  They  maintain 
rather  that  the  training  of  perception  in  any  direction  improves 
the  power  of  perception  in  every  direction,  but  not  the  power  of 
reason,  or  memory,  or  imagination.  Here  the  theory  that  all  pos- 
sible mental  functions  are  benefited  in  the  same  degree  by  any  va- 
riety of  experience  is  abandoned,  and  it  is  implied  that  there  are 
various  departments,  as  it  were,  to  the  mind,  from  each  of  which 
may  be  produced  special  articles  of  mental  merchandise  accord- 
ing to  the  needs  of  the  moment.  We  cannot  draft  the  power  de- 
veloped by  exercising  the  perceiving  faculty,  for  instance,  into 
the  service  of  the  remembering  faculty ;  nor  can  power  of  mem- 
ory be  utilized  in  carrying  forward  reason  or  imagination. 

The  same  sort  of  complaint  is  made  by  Heck : 2 

Finally,  we  notice  that  adherents  of  the  doctrine  of  formal 
discipline  shrink  from  carrying  their  doctrine  to  its  logical 

1  M.  J.  O'Shea,  Education  as  Adjustment,  p.  251.   Longmans,  Green, 
&  Co.,  1903. 

2  W.  H.  Heck,  Mental  Discipline  and  Educational  Values,  pp.  125  ff. 
John  Lane  Company,  1911. 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  395 

conclusions,  namely,  the  exact  equivalents  of  studies  for  mental 
discipline  or,  if  a  distinction  is  made  between  them,  the  concen- 
tration on  a  single  superior  study  for  the  training  of  a  given 
power  or  set  of  powers.  In  practice,  if  not  in  theory,  these  ad- 
herents acknowledge  a  variation  in  training  of  a  given  power 
or  set  of  powers  as  related  to  a  variation  in  content  of  study. 
A  case  in  point  is  the  inconsistency  of  the  Committee  of  Ten 
on  Secondary  School  Studies  in  stating  what  seems  to  be  a  be- 
lief in  the  equivalence  of  studies  and  then  specifying  elaborately 
varied  curricula,  representing  different  phases  of  the  environ- 
ment, different  subject-matter  and  method. 


CASE  AGAINST  FORMAL  DISCIPLINE  EXAGGERATED 

One  might  go  on  multiplying  examples  from  the  writings 
of  the  opponents  of  the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline  to  show 
that  they  have  never  really  succeeded  in  finding  the  extreme 
position  which  they  like  to  attack  actually  represented  by 
any  one  of  the  advocates  of  the  doctrine.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  that  the  quotations  which  are  given  by  Thorndike 
and  others  in  support  of  their  contention  that  the  doctrine 
of  formal  discipline  has  been  whole-heartedly  advocated  by 
teachers  of  the  classics  and  their  friends  are  very  labored. 
For  example,  if  one  takes  the  first  quotation  used  by 
Thorndike  in  the  successive  reprints  1  of  his  attack  upon 
the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline,  he  finds  the  following,  on 
the  whole,  fairly  innocuous  statement: 

Since  the  mind  is  a  unit  and  the  faculties  are  simply  phases 
or  manifestations  of  its  activity,  whatever  strengthens  one  fac- 
ulty indirectly  strengthens  all  the  others.  The  verbal  memory 
seems  to  be  an  exception  to  this  statement,  however,  for  it  may 
be  abnormally  cultivated  without  involving  to  any  profitable 
extent  the  other  faculties.  But  only  things  that  are  rightly 
perceived  and  rightly  understood  can  be  rightly  remembered. 
Hence  whatever  develops  the  acquisitive  and  assimilative 

1  For  example,  Educational  Psychology,  Vol.  II,  p.  360. 


396     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

powers  will  also  strengthen  memory ;  and,  conversely,  rightly 
strengthening  the  memory  necessitates  the  developing  of  other 
powers.  (R.  N.  Roark,  "  Method  in  Education,"  p.  27.) 

EXTREME  CRITICS  APPEAR  AT  TIMES  AS  ARDENT 
ADVOCATES 

It  will  be  noted  that  this  quotation,  presented  by  Thorn- 
dike  as  the  first  example  of  the  teachings  of  the  advocates 
of  formal  discipline  which  he  feels  compelled  to  refute,  dif- 
fers very  little  from  statements  which  might  be  extracted 
from  Thorndike's  own  writings.  For  example,  on  a  later 
page  of  the  same  volume  1  he  reprints  with  evident  satisfac- 
tion an  extract  from  one  of  his  own  earlier  works  as  follows : 

Identity  of  Procedure.  —  The  habit  acquired  in  a  laboratory 
course  of  looking  to  see  how  chemicals  do  behave,  instead  of 
guessing  at  the  matter  or  learning  statements  about  it  out  of  a 
book,  may  make  a  girl's  methods  of  cooking  or  a  boy's  methods 
of  manufacturing  more  scientific  because  the  attitude  of  distrust 
of  opinion  and  search  for  facts  may  so  possess  one  as  to  be  car- 
ried over  from  the  narrower  to  the  wider  field.  Difficulties  in 
studies  may  prepare  students  for  the  difficulties  of  the  world 
as  a  whole  by  cultivating  the  attitudes  of  neglect  of  discomfort, 
ideals  of  accomplishing  what  one  sets  out  to  do,  and  the  feeling 
of  dissatisfaction  with  failure. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  identity  of  procedure  and  prac- 
tice is  what  Roark  is  advocating  in  the  earlier  paragraph. 
Furthermore,  one  may  turn  to  those  who  have  been  influ- 
enced by  Thorndike's  writings  for  examples  which  illustrate 
admirably  the  difficulty  of  distinguishing  between  those  who 
are  in  favor  of  formal  discipline  and  those  who  are  not. 
In  his  interesting  book,  "  The  Teaching  of  Physics,"  Pro- 
fessor Mann  2  is  very  clear  in  the  earlier  chapters  that  the 

1  Educational  Psychology,  p.  431. 

2  C.  R.  Mann,  The  Teaching  of  Physics.   The  Macmillan  Company, 
1912. 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  39T 

doctrine  of  formal  discipline  should  be  violently  attacked. 
He  says  on  page  183  : 

The  first  point  to  be  noted  is  that  training  in  any  subject  is 
specific,  not  general.  .  .  .  Thinking,  like  training,  is  always  spe- 
cific, that  is,  connected  with  some  practical  situation  and  depend- 
ent upon  the  specific  nature  of  the  situation  as  a  whole. 

One  hardly  settles  his  mind  to  the  acceptance  of  this  doc- 
trine of  specific  discipline  when  he  comes,  on  page  214,  to 
the  following  wholesale  adoption  of  the  doctrine  of  formal 
discipline : 

Discipline  in  the  methods  of  acquiring  this  useful  knowledge 
results  not  only  in  skill  in  weighing  evidence  and  in  criticising 
and  testing  data,  in  openmindedness  or  the  ability  of  holding 
conclusions  tentatively  and  of  altering  them  whenever  new 
evidence  demands  it,  and  in  the  ability  of  predicting  conse- 
quences and  of  making  judgments  that  shall  have  the  great- 
est possible  degree  of  validity ;  but  also  in  self-forgetfulness, 
perseverance,  self-respect,  and  resourcefulness  in  the  face  of 
difficulties. 

CEITICISMS  OF  THE  REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  TEN 

Perhaps  the  above  quotations  will  be  enough  to  convince 
the  impartial  reader  why  it  is  very  difficult  to  find  anyone 
sufficiently  clear  on  the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline  to  be 
accepted  as  a  suitable  target  for  those  who  suppose  them- 
selves to  be  in  opposition  to  this  doctrine.  One  other  ex- 
ample, however,  of  the  partisan  spirit  of  this  discussion  may 
be  cited  in  view  of  the  reference  made  by  Hinsdale,1  Heck,1 
and  others  to  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten.  This 
report  has  been  referred  to  in  many  quarters  as  advocating 
the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline.  If  we  turn  to  the  minority 
report  of  the  Committee  presented  by  Baker  we  find  the 

1  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten,  Edition  of  1894,  pp.  56,  57.  Amer- 
ican Book  Company. 


398     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

following  statements  which  indicate  that  Baker  himself 
evidently  thought  that  the  rest  of  the  Committee  were 
in  favor  of  formal  discipline : 

I  cannot  endorse  expressions  that  appear  to  sanction  the  idea 
that  the  choice  of  subjects  in  secondary  schools  may  be  a  mat- 
ter of  comparative  indifference.  I  note  especially  the  following 
sentences,  referring  the  reader  to  their  context  for  accurate 
interpretation. 

"  Any  school  principal  may  say :  — '  With  the  staff  at  my  com- 
mand I  can  teach  only  five  subjects  out  of  those  proposed  by 
Conferences  in  the  manner  proposed.  My  school  shall,  there- 
fore, be  limited  to  these  five.'  Another  school  may  be  able  to 
teach  in  the  thorough  manner  proposed  five  subjects,  but  some 
or  all  of  these  five  may  be  different  from  those  selected  by  the 
first  school. 

"  If  twice  as  much  time  is  given  in  a  school  to  Latin  as  is 
given  to  mathematics,  the  attainments  of  the  pupils  in  Latin 
ought  to  be  twice  as  great  as  they  are  in  mathematics,  provided 
that  equally  good  work  is  done  in  the  two  subjects ;  and  Latin 
will  have  twice  the  educational  value  of  mathematics. 

"  The  schedule  of  studies  contained  in  Table  III  permits  flex- 
ibility and  variety  in  three  respects.  First,  it  is  not  necessary 
that  any  school  should  teach  all  the  subjects  which  it  contains, 
or  any  particular  set  of  subjects. 

"  Every  youth  who  entered  college  would  have  spent  four 
years  in  studying  a  few  subjects  thoroughly  ;  and  on  the  theory 
that  all  the  subjects  are  to  be  considered  equivalent  in  educa- 
tional rank  for  the  purpose  of  admission  to  college,  it  would 
make  no  difference  which  subjects  he  had  chosen  from  the  pro- 
gramme —  he  would  have  had  four  years  of  strong  and  effective 
mental  training." 

All  such  statements  are  based  upon  the  theory  that,  for  the 
purposes  of  general  education,  one  study  is  as  good  as  another, 
—  a  theory  which  appears  to  me  to  ignore  Philosophy,  Psychol- 
ogy and  Science  of  Education.  It  is  a  theory  which  makes 
education  formal  and  does  not  consider  the  nature  and  value 
of  the  content.  Power  comes  through  knowledge ;  we  cannot 
conceive  of  observation  and  memory  in  the  abstract. 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  399 

CRITICISM  BASED  ON  OBVIOUS  MISINTERPRETATION 

Inasmuch  as  the  Committee's  report  itself  contains  a 
minority  statement  which  thus  charges  the  Committee 
with  adherence  to  the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline,  and 
inasmuch  as  this  tradition  about  the  Committee  of  Ten 
has  been  perpetuated  in  some  of  the  later  discussions  of 
the  subject,  it  may  be  well  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  last  paragraph  in  Baker's  quotation,  which  is  also 
quoted  by  Hinsdale  and  others,  was  written  not  as  a  part 
of  a  discussion  of  the  general  educational  value  of  high- 
school  subjects  but  rather  as  part  of  a  statement  dealing 
with  the  organizing  of  a  college  preparatory  course.  What 
the  Committee  asserted  was  that  the  high  school  of  to-day 
cannot  formulate  its  course  of  study  with  a  view  merely  to 
preparing  for  college.  The  school  must  organize  its  courses 
in  such  a  way  as  to  offer  to  all  of  the  young  people  in  the 
community  as  large  a  range  of  subjects  as  possible  with  a 
view  to  preparing  them  for  the  ordinary  duties  of  citizen- 
ship. This  is  the  principle  which  the  Committee  lays  at 
the  foundation  of  its  various  programs  of  study.  Having 
organized  the  course  of  study  for  the  high  school  in  this 
general  way,  it  finds  that  the  problem  of  preparing  for 
college  must  be  treated  as  a  secondary  problem.  The 
Committee  holds  that  the  preparation  for  college,  being  a 
relatively  incidental  matter,  will  be  adequately  taken  care 
of  within  the  limits  of  the  courses  which  it  has  arranged 
if  all  the  subjects  which  are  taught  are  raised  to  a  uniform 
level  of  excellence.  All  of  the  different  courses  being 
regarded  by  the  Committee  as  of  value  for  the  training  of 
a  student,  the  student  who  is  to  go  to  college  may  extract 
from  the  total  series  of  possibilities  those  particular  courses 
which  he  wishes  to  elect.  The  college  may  safely  rely  upon 
the  outcome  of  this  secondary  training  because  it  has  been 
completely  and  thoroughly  organized  in  the  general  programs 


400    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

laid  down  by  the  Committee.  It  is  at  this  point  that  the 
statement  quoted  from  the  Committee's  report  appears. 
How  anyone  could  read  this  report  and  find  justifications 
for  Baker's  minority  report,  or  for  the  statement  made  by 
Heck  and  quoted  on  page  394,  is  difficult  for  an  unbiased 
student  of  education  to  determine.  Certainly  there  must 
be  in  any  social  or  educational  situation  which  permits  this 
partisan  misinterpretation  much  greater  intensity  of  partisan 
feeling  than  sobriety  of  intellectual  evaluation  of  positions. 


HADLEY  ON  GREEK  AND  FORMAL  DISCIPLINE 

One  further  quotation  may  be  added  to  show  that  the 
statements  of  those  who  are  in  favor  of  the  general  doctrine 
of  formal  discipline  are  by  no  means  so  extreme  on  the  one 
hand  as  has  been  assumed  by  the  opponents  of  this  doctrine, 
nor  on  the  other  hand  greatly  at  variance  with  Thorndike 
and  others  who  are  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  of  identity  of 
procedure.  The  following  quotation  from  the  presidential 
report  of  President  Hadley  in  1909  is  an  admirable  state- 
ment of  the  doctrine.1 

One  of  the  chief  causes  which  have  given  the  teaching  of 
Greek  its  importance  in  American  colleges  was  well  stated  in 
President  Garfield's  inaugural. 

"  That  some  subjects  produce  better  results  than  others  in 
the  same  general  group  is  due  rather  to  the  accident  of  time 
and  to  perfection  of  method,  than  to  'qualities  inherent  in  the 
subjects.  Consider,  for  example,  the  teaching  of  Greek.  Both 
the  language  and  the  method  of  instruction  have  been  stand- 
ardized, if  I  may  borrow  a  term  from  the  shops.  This  result 
has  come  about,  in  part,  because  the  language  is  '  dead,'  thereby 
lending  itself  to  fixed  methods  of  analysis  and  treatment,  and 
in  part  because  it  has  been  studied  long  enough,  since  its 

1  Report  of  the  president  of  Yale  University,  1908-1909,  pp.  7-9,  22. 
Published  by  the  University,  1909. 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  401 

revival,  to  enable  teachers  to  agree  upon  the  authors  to  be  read 
and  the  order  in  which  their  work  can  most  profitably  be  placed 
before  the  student. 

"  These  considerations  give  to  Greek,  as  to  Latin,  a  peculiar 
claim  to  consideration  as  a  discipline,  wholly  aside  from  the 
question  of  literary  quality  and  historic  value." 

What  does  this  last  sentence  mean  ?  It  means,  I  think,  that 
if  a  man  has  passed  an  examination  in  Greek,  you  know  that 
he  has  studied  Greek  to  some  purpose,  and  is  likely  to  work  to 
the  same  purpose  in  other  things  that  he  may  take  up.  Greek 
is  an  intellectual  game  where  the  umpires  know  the  rules  better 
than  they  know  the  rules  in  the  game  of  French,  for  instance, 
or  history,  or  botany.  A  man's  rating  in  an  examination  on 
any  one  of  these  last  three  subjects  is  largely  the  result  of 
accident  unless  the  examiner  is  quite  unusually  skillful.  A 
man's  rating  in  Greek,  on  the  other  hand,  means  something. 
There  never  were  intellectual  competitions  keener  than  the 
classical  competitions  at  Oxford  in  the  days  when  the  best  men 
in  England  wanted  their  sons  to  learn  that  particular  game. 

Unfortunately,  a  large  number  of  the  strongest  men,  both 
in  England  and  in  the  United  States,  have  decided  that  this 
game  takes  more  time  than  it  is  worth.  Personally,  I  believe 
that  this  change  of  mind  is  in  many  respects  a  misfortune ;  that 
in  trying  to  get  more  practical  results  in  the  way  of  knowledge 
or  culture  a  great  many  American  college  boys  have  lost  the 
training  which  the  Greek  would  have  given  them  and  gained 
nothing  of  equal  value  in  its  place.  But  colleges  cannot  teach 
a  thing  to  a  public  which  does  not  want  to  study  it;  and  we 
must  recognize  the  fact  that  an  increasing  part  of  the  American 
public  does  not  care  to  have  its  sons  give  the  time  necessary 
for  the  effective  use  of  the  Greek  language  as  a  means  of 
competition  and  discipline. 

This  makes  academic  problems  more  difficult.  It  is  infinitely 
harder  to  manage  a  college  where  the  students  do  not  want  to 
study  Greek  than  one  where  they  do.  It  is  harder  to  enforce 
habits  of  regularity;  harder  to  organize  general  intellectual 
competitions ;  harder  to  be  sure  that  examination  marks  are  a 
test  of  ability.  But  we  must  meet  the  facts  as  they  are.  We 


402    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

cannot  decline  solving  the  problem  of  to-day  because  we  like 
the  problem  of  yesterday  better. 

It  was  a  mistake  for  the  advocates  of  the  old  curriculum  to 
think  that  all  the  students  required  the  same  treatment.  It  is, 
I  believe,  an  equal  mistake  for  the  advocates  of  the  elective 
system  to  think  that  each  student  requires  a  different  treat- 
ment. For  while  there  is  a  very  large  number  of  subjects  of 
interest  to  study,  and  an  almost  infinite  variety  of  occupations 
which  the  students  are  going  to  follow  afterwards,  there  is  a 
comparatively  small  number  of  types  of  mind  with  which  we 
have  to  deal.  If  we  can  have  four  or  five  honor  courses,  some- 
thing like  those  of  the  English  universities,  where  the- studies 
are  grouped  and  the  examinations  arranged  to  meet  the  needs 
of  these  different  types,  we  can,  I  think,  realize  the  chief  ad- 
vantages of  the  elective  system  or  the  group  system  without 
subjecting  ourselves  to  their  evils.  I  am  confident  that  we  can 
secure  a  degree  of  collective  intellectual  interest  which  is  now 
absent  from  most  of  our  colleges,  and  'can  establish  competi- 
tions which  will  be  recognized  not  only  in  college  but  in  the 
world  as  places  where  the  best  men  can  show  what  is  in  them. 

It  may  be  objected  that  any  such  arrangement  would  render 
it  difficult  for  a  boy  to  study  the  particular  things  that  he  was 
going  to  use  in  after  life.  I  regard  this  as  its  cardinal  advan- 
tage. The  ideal  college  education  seems  to  me  to  be  one  where 
a  student  learns  things  that  he  is  not  going  to  use  in  after  life, 
by  methods  that  he  is  going  to  use.  The  former  element  gives 
the  breadth,  the  latter  element  gives  the  training. 

DISTINCTION  BETWEEN  FOKM  AND  CONTENT  DIFFICULT 

A  part  of  the  misunderstanding  regarding  formal  disci- 
pline grows  out  of  the  fact  that  the  terms  in  which  the 
discussion  has  been  carried  forward  are  themselves  very 
unfortunate.  In  the  first  place,  a  distinction  between  for- 
mal subjects  and  content  subjects  is  quite  impossible  to 
draw  and  has  never  been  strictly  adhered  to  in  any  of  the 
discussions.  One  finds,  for  example,  that  Thorndike  is 
constantly  discussing  identity  of  procedure  and  identity 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  403 

of  substance.  His  term  "  procedure  "  may  be  regarded  as 
synonymous  with  the  term  "  form,"  while  his  term  "  sub- 
stance "  is  synonymous  with  the  term  "  content."  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  that  in  his  own  mind  the  discussion  is 
not  limited  to  form  on  the  one  hand  as  distinguished  from 
substance  on  the  other,  nor  to  content  as  distinguished 
from  the  modes  of  mental  activity. 

REACTION  AGAINST  DISCIPLINE 

In  the  second  place,  the  term  "  discipline  "  undoubtedly 
carries  to  the  minds  of  many  thinkers  an  implied  criticism. 
The  term  "  discipline  "  reminds  one  of  the  early  days  of 
educational  theory  when  it  was  assumed  that  the  child  is 
by  nature  unregenerate  and  perverse.  The  child  must  in 
some  fashion  be  changed  so  that  he  will  become  an  indi- 
vidual of  the  accepted  type  in  society.  This  earlier  notion 
about  child  nature  had  its  sources  hi  the  theological  preju- 
dices of  the  medieval  period.  It  was  assumed  by  the  theo- 
logians who  tried  to  frame  their  school  work  on  the  basis 
of  a  pietistic  or  puritanic  religious  theory  that  there  is 
nothing  in  the  world  so  bad  as  that  which  is  natural.  To- 
day we  are  all  of  us  prepared  to  assume  exactly  the  oppo- 
site attitude.  Studies  of  mental  development  and  of  social 
organization  have  convinced  all  of  us  that  Nature  is  con- 
stantly working  for  the  improvement  of  the  species  and 
the  individual.  Nature  provides  devices  which  constantly 
make  for  betterment.  Consequently,  if  we  can  do  anything 
which  will  aid  Nature  in  the  processes  which  she  is  carrying 
on,  we  shall  have  worked  to  the  advantage  of  all  concerned. 
This  attitude  with  regard  to  Nature  makes  us  skeptical 
about  any  form  of  training  which  seems  to  run  counter  to 
Nature.  When  one  reads  Herbert  Spencer's  unqualified 
statement  that  we  may  properly  depend  upon  the  child's  own 
judgment  of  what  is  agreeable  to  him,  since  all  education 


404    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

which  is  natural  is  sure  to  arouse  a  pleasurable  feeling; 
when  one  reads  in  the  Herbartians  that  the  child's  interest 
is  a  suitable  criterion  for  the  selection  of  school  material 
and  modes  of  procedure ;  when  one  reads  the  pleas  of  the 
students  of  physical  education  for  more  of  the  play  type 
of  activity  in  school  work,  he  realizes  that  the  day  of  disci- 
pline as  a  favorite  educational  concept  is  past.  No  one  can 
get  a  hearing  to-day  for  any  doctrine  which  repudiates 
Nature  at  the  outset.  Consequently,  the  use  of  the  term 
"  discipline  "  is  unfortunate.  No  subject  can  afford  at  the 
present  time  to  bear  the  burden  of  this  doctrine  of  disci- 
pline. If  the  classicists  want  an  impartial  hearing  of  their 
case,  they  should  abandon  that  word  altogether.  What- 
ever virtues  there  may  be  in  learning  how  to  overcome  dis- 
tractions ;  whatever  advantages  there  may  be  to  the  student 
in  learning  to  concentrate  his  attention ;  he  must  be  freed, 
so  far  as  popular  thought  is  concerned,  from  the  necessity  of 
doing  all  this  in  a  way  that  is  opposed  to  Nature.  We  must 
treat  concentration  as  a  natural  characteristic  of  the  mind. 
If  we  have  to  cultivate  it  by  strenuous  endeavors  we  must 
not  say  that  the  mind  has  been  disciplined  into  concen- 
tration ;  we  must  say  rather  that  the  mind  ought  to  be 
allowed  to  express  its  own  tendencies.  We  must  learn  to 
use  phrases  which  will  free  us  from  controversies  with 
medievalism. 

No  ONE  DENIES  THE  FACT  OF  TRANSFER  OF  TRAINING 

The  discussion  of  formal  discipline  as  it  has  been  carried 
on  by  recent  writers  can  legitimately  be  expressed  in  en- 
tirely neutral  terms.  It  is  in  fact  a  discussion  of  the  degree 
to  which  training  gained  in  one  sphere  of  thought  and 
activity  can  be  transferred  to  other  spheres  of  thought  and 
activity.  Special  emphasis  may  furthermore  be  laid  on  the 
fact  that  there  is  no  one  who  denies  that  some  kind  of 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  405 

transfer  takes  place.  The  real  questions  at  issue  are  what 
is  the  degree  of  transfer  and  what  is  its  method.  It  should 
perhaps  be  reiterated  that  it  is  entirely  out  of  keeping  with 
the  evidence  to  assume  that  there  is  anyone  who  believes 
that  the  transfer  is  uniform  and  absolute.  Sometimes  the 
opponents  of  the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline  write  as 
though  they  thought  that  the  advocates  of  this  doctrine 
believTB  in  absolutely  equal  transfer  in  all  directions.  Note 
Thorndike's  comment  quoted  on  page  393.  Note  also  the 
statements  that  were  made  above  from  O'Shea  and  Heck, 
where  it  was  pointed  out  that  they  cannot  find  anyone 
who  goes  the  whole  length  of  advocating  complete  transfer 
of  powers. 

THE  REAL  PROBLEM  THAT  OF  DEGREE  OF  TRANSFER 

The  fact  is  that  in  all  of  these  cases  the  real  question  is 
one  of  degree.  Thorndike's  statement  of  the  problem  which 
he  wishes  to  discuss  is  thus  somewhat  biased  by  his  confu- 
sion of  two  distinct  problems.  He  himself  admits  that  there 
is  some  degree  of  transfer.  He  wishes  to  put  his  opponents 
in  the  position  of  stating  that  the  transfer  is  more  general 
than  he  admits,  and  that  it  takes  place  by  a  method  other 
than  that  which  he  accepts.  His  preliminary  definitions  are 
quoted  from  his  "  Principles  of  Teaching."  1 

The  problem  of  how  far  the  particular  responses  made  day 
by  day  by  pupils  improve  their  mental  powers  in  general  is 
called  the  problem  of  the  disciplinary  value  or  disciplinary 
effect  of  studies,  or  more  briefly,  the  problem  of  formal  disci- 
pline. (P.  235.) 

A  common  answer  of  the  theorists  about  human  life  and 
education  has  been  that  each  special  mental  acquisition,  each 
special  form  of  training,  improves  directly  and  equally  the 
general  ability.  Teachers  have  believed  and  acted  on  the  theory 

1  E.  L.  Thorndike,  The  Principles  of  Teaching.   A.  G.  Seiler,  1906. 


406     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

that  the  mind  was  a  collection  of  faculties  or  powers  —  obser- 
vation, attention,  memory,  reasoning,  will  and  the  like  —  and 
that  any  gain  in  any  faculty  was  a  gain  for  the  faculty  as  a 
whole.  (P.  236.) 

The  powers  of  the  mind  are  supposed  to  work  irrespective  of 
the  data  with  which  they  work.  Improvement  in  one  special 
power  rarely,  if  ever,  means  equal  improvement  in  general. 
(P..  237.) 

CRITICAL  EXAMINATION  OF  EVIDENCE  BY  CKITICS 

We  shall  first  take  up  the  problem  of  the  degree  of  trans- 
fer. It  would  be  simpler  to  marshal  the  abundant  positive 
experimental  evidence  that  transfer  of  a  high  degree  is  very 
common,  but  the  rules  of  argumentation  dictate  that  we 
use  the  material  which  has  been  the  basis  of  the  opposite 
conclusion.  We  turn,  therefore,  to  Thorndike's  text  for  his 
evidence  that  transfer  of  training  is  very  slight.  We  quote 
in  full  his  statement.1 

The  exact  extent  to  which  the  improvement  of  any  special 
capacity  does  improve  other  capacities  than  itself  can  be  esti- 
mated from  two  lines  of  evidence,  one  concerning  the  extent 
to  which  special  capacities  are  related  one  to  another  in  the 
human  mind  and  the  other  concerning  the  actual  effect  of  special 
training  on  general  ability  as  found  by  scientific  investigations. 

Common  observation  should  teach  that  mental  capacities 
are  highly  specialized.  A  man  may  be  a  tip-top  musician  but 
in  other  respects  an  imbecile  :  he  may  be  a  gifted  poet,  but  an 
ignoramus  in  music :  he  may  have  a  wonderful  memory  for 
figures  and  only  a  mediocre  memory  for  localities,  poetry  or 
human  faces :  school  children  may  reason  admirably  in  science 
and  be  below  the  average  in  grammar :  those  very  good  in 
drawing  may  be  very  poor  in  dancing. 

Careful  measurements  show  that  the  specialization  is  even 
greater  than  ordinary  observation  leads  one  to  suppose.  For 
instance  those  individuals  who  are  the  highest  ten  out  of  a  hun- 
dred in  the  power  to  judge  differences  in  length  accurately  are 

1  The  Principles  of  Teaching,  pp.  238-240. 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE 


407 


by  no  means  the  highest  ten  in  the  ability  to  judge  differences 
in  weights  accurately.  In  fact  they  are  not  very  much  above 
the  average.  The  best  ten  out  of  a  hundred  in  observing  mis- 
spellings in  words  are  not  very  much  better  off  than  the  worst 
ten  when  we  test  their  ability  to  observe  the  shape  of  objects. 
Similarly,  quickness  and  accuracy  in  thinking  of  the  sums  of 
numbers  by  no  means  implies  equal  quickness  and  accuracy  in 
thinking  of  the  opposites  of  words. 

The  records  given  below  are  samples  of  many  that  have  been 
obtained  by  scientific  students  of  education,  all  testifying  to 
the  complex  specialization  of  human  capacities,  and  the  exist- 
ence of  variations  in  any  power  according  to  the  data  with 
which  it  works. 

The  ranks  for  thirty  students  throughout  their  college  course 
were  as  follows : 


Indi- 
vidual 

Rank  in 
English 

Rank  in  Latin, 
French,  and  German 

Indi- 
vidual 

Rank  in 
English 

•Rank  in  Latin, 
French,  and  German 

A 

1 

2 

P 

16 

16 

B 

2 

13 

Q 

17 

17 

C 

3 

1 

R 

18 

18 

D 

4 

3 

S 

19 

20 

E 

5 

4 

T 

20 

24 

F 

6 

5 

U 

21 

30 

G 

7 

9 

V 

22 

25 

H 

8 

6 

w 

23 

19 

I 

9 

8 

X 

24 

21 

J 

10 

10 

Y 

25 

22 

K 

11 

11 

Z 

26 

7 

L 

12 

28 

a 

27 

29 

M 

13 

12 

b 

28 

23 

N 

14 

14, 

c 

29 

26 

0 

15 

15 

d 

30 

27 

The  ranks  for  thirty-five  fourth-grade  girls  in  two  mental 
tests *  are  shown  on  the  following  page  : 

1  The  two  tests  were  :  (1)  in  quickness  and  accuracy  in  observing  A's 
in  a  sheet  of  capital  letters,  words  containing  certain  combinations  of 
letters  and  the  like,  and  (2)  in  quickness  and  accuracy  in  thinking  of 
the  opposites  of  words.  They  may  be  called  tests  of  (1)  observation  and 
(2)  of  association. 


408     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 


Indi- 
vidual 

Bank  in  obser- 
vation 

Rank  in  asso- 
ciation 

Indi- 
vidual 

Bank  in  obser- 
vation 

Bank  in  asso- 
ciation 

A 

1 

5 

S 

19 

7 

B 

2 

16 

T 

20 

35 

C 

3 

1 

U 

21 

13 

D 

4 

2 

V 

22 

3 

E 

5 

29 

W 

23 

33 

F 

6 

26 

X 

24 

25 

G 

7 

10 

Y 

25 

29 

H 

8 

24 

Z 

26 

12 

I 

9 

27 

a 

27 

16 

J 

10 

14 

b 

28 

23 

K 

11 

20 

c 

29 

8 

L 

12 

9 

d 

30 

22 

M 

13 

4 

e 

31 

31 

N 

14 

19 

f 

32 

6 

0 

15 

30 

g 

33 

18 

P 

16 

32 

h 

34 

21 

Q 

17 

17 

i 

35 

34 

R 

18 

11 

The  ranks  for  twenty-five  high-school  boys  in  discriminating 
lengths  and  in  discriminating  weights  were  as  follows  * 


Indi- 
vidual 

Bank  in  ac- 
curacy with 
lengths 

Bank  in  ac- 
curacy with 
weights 

Indi- 
vidual 

Bank  in  ac- 
curacy with 
lengths 

Bank  in  ac- 
curacy with 
weights 

A 

1 

4 

N 

14 

11 

B 

2 

8 

O 

15 

15 

C 

3 

24 

P 

16 

10 

D 

4 

12 

Q 

17 

26 

E 

6 

5 

R 

18 

13 

F 

6 

17 

S 

.         19 

3 

G 

7 

2 

T 

20 

19 

H 

8 

14 

U 

21  , 

21 

I 

9 

6 

V 

22 

22 

J 

10 

7 

W 

23 

1 

K 

11 

20 

X 

24 

16 

L 

12 

23 

Y 

26 

18 

M 

13 

9 

Many  facts  such  as  these  prove  that  the  mind  is  by  no  means 
a  collection  of  a  few  general  faculties,  observation,  attention, 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  409 

memory,  reasoning  and  the  like,  but  is  the  sum  total  of  count- 
less particular  capacities,  each  of  which  is  to  some  extent  inde- 
pendent of  the  others,  —  each  of  which  must  to  some  extent 
be  educated  by  itself.  The  task  of  teaching  is  not  to  develop 
a  reasoning  faculty,  but  many  special  powers  of  thought  about 
different  kinds  of  facts.  It  is  not  to  alter  our  general  power  of 
attention,  but. to  build  up  many  particular  powers  of  attending 
to  different  kinds  of  facts. 


A  SIMPLER  STATEMENT  OF  THE  TABLES 

The  student  will  understand  these  tables  better  if  we 
recalculate  them  for  him.  In  the  first  table  individual  A 
stands  in  the  first  position  in  English  and  in  the  second  po- 
sition in  languages.  He  is  displaced,  therefore,  by  one  posi- 
tion. Individual  B  in  this  table  is  displaced  eleven  positions. 
If  in  this  fashion  we  go  through  the  whole  table  and  indi- 
cate the  amount  of  displacement,  we  find  that  there  are  two 
groups  of  cases.  There  is  one  group  in  which  the  displace- 
ment is  very  slight.  Thus,  there  are  seven  members  of  the 
group  of  thirty  who  are  not  displaced  at  all ;  that  is,  they 
assume  exactly  the  same  position  in  the  English  series  as 
in  the  foreign-language  series.  Seven  members  of  the  group 
of  thirty  suffer  only  a  single  point  of  displacement.  There 
are  four  cases  where  the  displacement  is  two  positions ;  five 
where  the  displacement  is  three ;  three  more  where  the  dis- 
placement is  five  or  less.  We  now  have  four  scattering 
cases  in  which  the  displacement  is  very  large.  One  of  these 
cases  has  a  displacement  of  nine ;  one,  eleven  ;  one,  sixteen  ; 
and  one,  nineteen. 

STRIKING  POSITIVE  AND  NEGATIVE  CORRELATIONS 

How  an  astute  observer  like  Thorndike  could  fail  to 
recognize  that  he  has  in  these  figures  a  very  interesting 
indication  of  the  fact  which  is  known  to  every  teacher  is 


410     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

difficult  to  understand.  Teachers  realize  that  there  are 
some  students  who  acquire  in  each  study  better  equipment 
for  general  school  work.  There  are  other  students  who  be- 
come so  absorbed  in  a  single  line  of  training  that  they  are 
actually  interrupted  in  the  rest  of  their  school  work.  It  is 
very  easy  to.  find  in  any  school  some  member  of  the  Latin 
class  who  has  become  so  absorbed  in  this  one  subject  that 
he  neglects  the  rest  of  his  work  in  order  to  be  perfect  in 
this  subject.  It  would  be  natural  to  expect  that  such  a  stu- 
dent as  this  would  suffer  a  very  large  displacement  if  his 
marks  in  Latin  were  compared  with  his  marks  in  English. 
Thorndike's  table  makes  it  perfectly  clear  that  such 
facts  lie  before  us  in  abundance  in  every  class.  Here  are 
some  students  whose  work  correlates ;  others  who  show 
the  sharpest  contrasts.  Why  should  anyone  be  satisfied  to 
throw  all  these  cases  together,  and  shutting  his  eyes  draw 
out  an  average?  What  does  the  average  show?  Nothing 
but  this :  in  a  large  class  there  are  enough  different  kinds 
of  transfer  so  that  if  you  mix  them  thoroughly  you  will 
find  no  transfer.  Note  that  all  you  need  to  do  if  you  want 
to  cover  up  correlations  is  to  continue  to  mix  until  the 
desired  result  is  reached. 

THE  FALLACY  OF  USING  TESTS  WITHOUT  CRITICAL 
INTERPRETATION 

A  second  fact  which  comes  out  in  Thorndike's  tables  is 
that  our  methods  of  testing  students  are  such  that  it  is 
extremely  difficult  to  know  how  much  transfer  we  ought 
to  expect  between  the  different  functions  under  discussion. 
In  the  second  and  third  tables  presented  above,  investiga- 
tions are  reported  of  the  degrees  of  correlation  between 
quickness  and  accuracy  of  observation  and  association,  and 
between  the  abilities  exhibited  by  high-school  boys  to  dis- 
criminate lengths  and  weights.  The  table  on  discrimination 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  411 

of  lengths  and  weights,  like  the  first  table,  shows  a  rela- 
tively very  high  degree  of  correlation.  Students  are  dis- 
placed only  in  a  few  isolated  instances  more  than  seven  or 
eight  places.  These  few  isolated  instances,  like  the  cases  of 
negative  correlation  in  the  first  table,  are  just  as  impor- 
tant to  the  educator  and  just  as  significant  for  educational 
theory  as  the  cases  of  the  students  showing  a  high  degree 
of  positive  correlation.  Whenever  two  mental  functions 
are  opposed  to  each  other  the  relationship  between  the  two 
opposing  functions  is  quite  as  important  to  the  teacher  as 
the  relationship  between  two  functions  which  cooperate 
with  each  other. 

The  second  table,  in  which  observation  and  association 
are  contrasted  with  each  other,  shows  a  very  wide  disparity 
in  the  standings  of  individuals,  but  it  does  not  follow  from 
this  disparity  that  it  is  the  students  who  are  responsible. 
Before  an  investigator  begins  to  draw  inferences  from  his 
tables  he  ought  certainly  to  recognize  the  fact  that  a  table 
depends  for  its  significance  on  the  kind  of  comparison  which 
it  institutes.  Who  could  expect  to  compare  the  quickness 
and  alertness  in  observation  and  association  exhibited  by 
fourth-grade  girls  with  the  same  degree  of  finality  as  he 
could  reach  in  comparing  the  attainments  of  college  stu- 
dents in  English  and  in  foreign  languages  ?  It  has  long 
been  recognized  by  all  students  of  education  that  a  single 
test  is  a  very  unreliable  basis  on  which  to  make  a  general- 
ization. It  would  be  very  much  better  to  throw  out  this 
table  on  observation  and  association  than  to  attempt  to 
build  upon  so  slender  a  foundation  the  structure  of  a  gen- 
eral educational  doctrine,  especially  when  this  table  differs 
so  radically  from  the  other  two  on  the  same  page. 

This  table  also  shows  that  the  methods  of  investigation 
have  much  to  do  with  the  degree  of  transfer  which  is  shown 
in  any  given  situation.  Furthermore,  it  is  not  merely  the 
method  of  testing  that  influences  the  result;  the  method 


412     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

of  training  is  also  of  the  greatest  influence.  Our  school 
organization  has  undoubtedly  been  responsible  for  much  of 
the  separation  between  subjects  under  which  students  have 
suffered.  In  dealing  with  English,  for  example,  we  had 
frequent  occasion  to  point  out  that  the  influence  of  Eng- 
lish courses  is  not  general  because  of  the  way  in  which 
these  courses  are  organized.  The  same  type  of  argument 
may  be  applied  to  other  courses  in  the  curriculum. 

The  negative  evidence  offered  by  the  critics  of  formal 
discipline  thus  turns  out  to  be  of  the  thinnest  possible 
type.  They  have  not  only  not  proved  a  negative;  they 
have  presented  a  series  of  facts  which  calls  loudly  for 
affirmative  discussion. 

WHAT  is  THE  METHOD  OF  TRANSFER? 

We  are  thus  brought  to  the  second  phase  of  our  topic. 
It  is,  as  we  have  seen,  admitted  on  all  sides  that  transfer 
of  some  degree  takes  place.  The  next  question  is,  How 
does  transfer  take  place,  or,  What  conditions  secure  much 
transfer  and  what  secure  little  ? 

TRANSFER  DEPENDS  ON  THE  POWER  OF 
GENERALIZATION 

The  first  and  most  striking  fact  which  is  to  be  drawn 
from  school  experience  is  that  one  and  the  same  subject 
matter  may  be  employed  with  one  and  the  same  student 
with  wholly  different  effects,  according  to  the  mode  of  pres- 
entation. If  the  lesson  is  presented  in  one  fashion  it  will 
produce  a  very  large  transfer;  whereas  if  it  is  presented 
in  an  entirely  different  fashion  it  will  be  utterly  barren  of 
results  for  other  phases  of  mental  life.  It  is  quite  possible 
to  take  one  of  the  objects  of  nature  study,  for  example, 
and  to  teach  it  in  such  a  way  that  it  becomes  an  isolated 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  413 

and  utterly  formal  possession  of  the  student.  This  has 
been  illustrated  time  and  time  again  by  the  instruction 
which  has  been  given  in  birds  and  plants.  A  teacher  can 
teach  birds  and  plants  in  such  a  way  as  to  arouse  a  mini- 
mum of  ideas  in  the  student's  mind.  The  training  may  be 
as  formal  in  these  content  subjects  as  it  ever  was  in  lan- 
guage instruction.  On  the  other  hand,  the  same  subject 
matter  may  be  taken  by  a  different  teacher,  and  under 
other  methods  can  be  made  vital  for  the  student's  whole 
thinking.  Thus  the  teacher  who  is  dealing  with  birds  as  a 
subject  of  nature  study  and  secures  an  interest  on  the  part 
of  his  students  for  the  world  in  which  these  birds  live, 
through  an  examination  of  the  structures  and  habits  of 
the  birds,  will  have  in  this  subject  matter  one  of  the  most 
broadly  interesting  topics  that  can  be  taught.  In  exactly 
the  same  way  a  teacher  who  knows  how  to  make  use  of 
the  materials  given  in  a  Latin  course  may  render  this  sub- 
ject very  broadly  productive,  as  contrasted  with  the  teacher 
who  merely  gives  the  formal  aspects  of  the  subject.  For- 
malism and  lack  of  transfer  turn  out  to  be  not  characteris- 
tics of  subjects  of  instruction,  but  rather  products  of  the 
mode  of  instruction  in  these  subjects. 

JAMES  ON  GENERALIZATION 

The  important  psychological  fact  involved  in  the  above 
statements  is  that  the  extent  to  which  a  student  general- 
izes his  training  is  itself  a  measure  of  the  degree  to  which 
he  has  secured  from  any  course  the  highest  form  of  train- 
ing. One  of  the  major  characteristics  of  human  intelligence 
is  to  be  defined  by  calling  attention,  as  was  pointed  out  in 
the  chapter  on  science,  to  the  fact  that  a  human  being  is 
able  to  generalize  his  experience.  James  has  discussed  this 
matter  by  using  the  example  of  the  animal  trained  to  open 
a  particular  latch.  The  animal  becomes  acquainted  with 


414     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

the  necessary  movements  to  open  one  door,  but  he  never 
has  the  ability  to  generalize  this  experience.  He  cannot 
see  that  the  same  method  of  opening  doors  is  applicable 
to  many  other  latches.  The  result  is  that  the  animal  goes 
through  life  with  one  particular  narrow  mode  of  behavior, 
and  exhibits  his  lack  of  intelligence  by  his  inability  to  carry 
this  single  type  of  skill  over  to  the  other  cases  which  are 
very  familiar  to  the  trained  human  intelligence. 

James  goes  on  to  say  that  the  same  distinction  appears 
when  we  contrast  a  trained  scientific  mind  with  the  ordi- 
nary mind.  The  ordinary  thinker  does  not  see  how  to  deal 
with  a  situation  in  terms  of  scientific  principles.  James 
cites  the  example  of  his  own  experience  with  a  smoking 
student-lamp.  He  discovered  by  accident  that  the  lamp 
would  not  smoke  if  he  put  something  under  the  chimney  so 
as  to  increase  the  air  current,  but  he  did  not  realize  that 
what  he  had  done  was  only  one  particular  example  of  the 
general  principle  that  combustion  is  favored  by  a  large  sup- 
ply of  oxygen.  The  general  principle  and  its  useful  appli- 
cation belong  to  a  sphere  of  thinking  and  experience  which 
the  untrained  layman  has  not  yet  mastered.1 

THE  THEORY  OF  IDENTICAL  ELEMENTS  LOOSE  AND 
AMBIGUOUS 

When  one  studies  the  psychology  of  generalization  he 
becomes  aware  of  the  uselessness  of  some  of  the  formulas 
which  have  been  proposed  by  those  who  hold  that  transfer 
of  training  takes  place  in  cases  where  there  are  identical 
elements  present.  The  identical  element  is  usually  con- 
tributed by  the  generalizing  mind.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  may  be  identical  elements  potentially  present  in  vari- 
ous, situations,  but  wholly  unobserved  by  the  untrained 
or  lethargic  mind.  In  fact,  the  discovery  of  the  identical 

1  Principles  of  Psychology,  Vol.  II,  p.  339. 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  415 

element  in  a  situation  is  in  some  cases  the  whole  problem  of 
training.  Take  the  famous  illustration  of  Newton's  dis- 
covery. He  saw  for  the  first  time  that  the  relation  between 
the  moon  and  the  earth  is  identical  in  character  with  the 
relation  between  the  earth  and  everything  which  falls  toward 
its  center.  The  discovery  of  this  identity  in  the  two  situa- 
tions was  the  great  achievement  of  a  scientific  mind.  The 
discovery  of  identical  elements  in  all  of  the  Indo-European 
languages  was  the  achievement  of  the  students  of  compar- 
ative philology  who  a  generation  ago  established  the  broad 
principles  of  the  scientific  study  of  grammar  and  word 
structure.  The  discovery  of  identical  elements  in  two  sit- 
uations was  in  both  cases  an  achievement  of  trained  minds 
applying  themselves  to  situations  which  heretofore  had  de- 
fied analysis.  Or  we  might  borrow  our  illustrations  from  the 
world  of  mechanics.  The  discovery  of  a  common  mechan- 
ical principle  in  all  of  the  situations  which  involve  the  use 
of  the  wedge  and  the  inclined  plane  is  an  achievement  of 
mature  physical  science.  Primitive  man  did  not  recognize 
in  these  different  situations  a  common  principle,  nor  was 
he  able  to  carry  over  from  one  practical  device  to  other 
practical  situations  the  experiences  that  he  had  accumulated 
in  the  accidental  use  of  one  tool  after  another.  We  may 
express  this  limitation  of  primitive  intelligence  by  saying 
that  although  common  modes  of  procedure  were  possible 
in  these  different  cases,  they  were  not  discovered. 

BAGLEY  ON  TRANSFER  OF  NEATNESS 

Let  us  see  how  the  same  general  criticism  applies  to 
the  discussion  of  another  well-known  case.  The  frequently 
quoted  experiments  which  Bagley  utilizes  in  his  discussion 
of  formal  discipline l  show  that  children  who  had  been  taught 

1  W.  C.  Bagley,  The  Educative  Process,  p.  208.  The  Macmillan  Com- 
pany, 1908. 


416     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

in  the  schools  to  keep  their  papers  neat  in  the  arithmetic 
class  did  not  adopt  the  same  mode  of  procedure  in  other 
lines  of  work.  It  was  of  course  possible  for  them  to  find 
in  the  other  classes  opportunities  for  neatness  equal  to  those 
which  were  presented  in  arithmetic.  They  might  have 
adopted  the  same  mode  of  procedure.  There  were  many 
elements  in  the  other  situations  which,  compared  with  the 
situation  in  arithmetic,  invited  either  neatness  or  its  oppo- 
site ;  but  these  other  situations  were  not  recognized  by  the 
children  as  inviting  the  same  treatment  as  the  arithmetic 
papers,  and  the  mode  of  procedure,  although  it  was  possible, 
did  not  carry  over  into  the  new  situations. 

POWER  OF  GENERALIZATION  VERSUS  IDENTICAL 
ELEMENTS 

In  the  same  fashion  we  may  show  that  the  principles  of 
intellectual  economy  which  Thorndike  frequently  includes 
in  his  statement  of  indentical  modes  of  procedure,  namely, 
the  principles  that  one  can  learn  to  avoid  distractions  of  all 
sorts,  or  that  he  can  refuse  to  give  up  a  piece  of  work  even 
when  it  is  uncomfortable,  represent  generalized  identities 
of  procedure  which  are  not  always  realized.  In  all  these 
cases  we  must  distinguish  sharply  between  the  possibility 
of  identical  modes  of  procedure  and  the  actual  achievement 
of  this  identity.  Such  an  achievement  depends  upon  the 
exercise  of  trained  intelligence.  The  existence  of  possible 
modes  of  procedure  does  not  lead  inevitably  to  their  real- 
ization in  fact. 

Another  illustration  is  of  exactly  the  same  type.  A  great 
deal  of  our  reasoning  involves  the  principle  which  has  been 
clearly  stated  in  the  logics  in  the  formula  that  every  effect 
has  its  cause.  Whoever  becomes  conscious  of  this  general 
logical  principle  will  find  that  in  many  different  situations 
he  depends  upon  this  fundamental  mode  of  explanation  for 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  417 

his  scientific  thinking.  The  little  child  undoubtedly  is  in- 
fluenced very  early  by  his  experience  to  look  for  some  cause 
for  every  effect.  For  example,  the  little  child  who  hears  a 
noise  always  looks  for  the  source  of  the  noise.  If  he  sees  a 
missile  flying  toward  him,  he  always  looks  for  the  source  of 
the  missile.  Gradually  he  falls  into  the  habit  of  looking  for 
causes  for  all  effects  and  for  effects  of  all  causes.  He  could 
not  formulate  the  fundamental  principle  back  of  these  expe- 
riences in  any  definite  terms,  but  he  undoubtedly  does  come 
to  assume  a  general  attitude  which  is  the  background  for 
the  later  logical  formula  that  all  effects  must  have  their 
causes.  There  is,  indeed,  an  identical  element  of  causal 
relation  in  every  possible  situation.  In  this  sense  of  the 
word  we  might  say  that  all  thinking  is  absolutely  bound 
together  by  the  presence  of  an  identical  principle.  The 
degree  to  which  the  student  will  become  aware  of  this 
common  principle  in  all  thinking  will  differ  according  to 
his  training.  The  little  child  looks  for  fantastic  causes  for 
effects  which  he  observes,  and  we  say  of  him  that  his  power 
of  causal  reasoning  is  very  immature.  The  savage,  as  we 
have  seen  in  the  discussion  of  scientific  thinking,  tries  to 
invent  explanations ;  but  he  indulges  in  very  free  and  un- 
critical imaginations.  It  would  be  very  difficult  to  relate 
his  mode  of  thought  to  the  causal  principle  of  science.  It 
would  be  interesting  to  inquire  how  far  a  savage's  mode  of 
explanation  of  the  physical  facts  about  him  is  influenced 
by  purely  accidental  elements,  and  how  far  by  the  demand 
for  causal  explanation  which  he  possesses  in  common  with 
all  mankind. 

GENERALIZED  MODES  OF  THOUGHT  AND  BEHAVIOR 

There  are  also  certain  identical  elements  of  personality 
involved  in' every  situation.  When  I  view  the  world  from 
my  point  of  view,  I  import  into  every  experience  which  I 


418    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

pass  through  a  certain  mode  of  observation  and  a  certain 
mode  of  thought  which  grow  out  of  the  totality  of  my  earlier 
contact  with  the  world.  James  has  described  this  by  saying 
that  every  human  being  is  a  bundle  of  personalities.  At 
one  moment  one  thinks  of  the  world  from  the  point  of  view 
of  his  business  ;  a  little  later  he  will  look  at  the  world  from 
the  point  of  view  of  his  social  engagements.  In  these  two 
cases  he  will  be  dominated  in  his  thought  by  the  point  of 
view  which  he  is  at  that  moment  assuming.  All  business 
transactions  are  thought  of  in  a  world  of  experience  which 
is  made  up  of  the  sum  total  of  the  individual's  past  contact 
with  business  affairs.  We  may  say,  therefore,  that  every 
individual  brings  to  every  new  situation  which  he  encoun- 
ters the  identical  sum  of  his  past  experiences.  This  sum  of 
past  experiences  will  from  time  to  time  undergo  enlarge- 
ment and  change  because  every  new  experience  enters  into 
the  sum  and  contributes  to  a  change  in  the  individual's  per- 
sonality. There  is,  however,  in  a  very  proper  sense  of  the 
word  a  nucleus  of  permanent  experiences  which  must  be 
reckoned  with  in  any  educational  development.  The  child 
who  has  gone  through  the  hands  of  a  certain  teacher  carries 
away  the  stamp  of  that  teacher's  training ;  and  every  other 
course  which  he  takes  up  will  bear  the  impression  of  this 
earlier  training.  There  is  not  a  school  in  the  country  that 
does  not  testify  loudly  to  the  fact  that  a  bad  teacher  in  one 
of  the  lower  grades  will  leave  so  serious  an  impression  upon 
the  class  that  has  gone  through  the  hands  of  this  teacher 
that  later  instructors  will  have  difficulty  in  overcoming  the 
bad  effects.  It  is  fortunately  true,  on  the  other  side,  that 
an  excellent  teacher  leaves  behind  methods  of  work  and 
ideas  about  work  which  are  of  very  great  advantage  to  the 
students  in  their  later  studies. 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  419 

THE  AUTHOR  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  IDENTICAL 
ELEMENTS  FINDS  IT  INADEQUATE 

When  one  begins  to  define  the  identical  elements  of  a 
situation  in  these  broad  general  terms  he  sees  that  the  for- 
mula, identical  elements  of  experience,  is  absolutely  worth- 
less. One  is  tempted  to  confirm  this  general  position  by 
quoting  from  Thorndike's  own  mature  conclusions l  in  the 
matter  where  he  says : 

The  general  theory  of  identical  elements  —  that  one  ability 
is  improved  by  the  exercise  of  another  only  when  the  neurones 
whose  action  the  former  represents  are  actually  altered  in  the 
course  of  the  exercise  of  the  latter  —  is  sound,  and  is  useful 
in  guiding  thought.  However,  so  little  is  known  about  which 
neurones  are  concerned  in  any  ability  that  this  general  theory 
does  not  carry  us  far. 

On  the  other  hand,  one  is  convinced  as  he  considers 
carefully  this  general  doctrine  of  identical  elements  that 
one  of  the  most  important  considerations  in  any  system  of 
training  is  to  help  students  to  discover  the  possibilities  of 
generalization  presented  in  successive  situations.  For  exam- 
ple, mental  economy  is  possible  hi  a  great  variety  of  cases. 
Let  us  practice  mental  economy  now  under  this  set  of  con- 
ditions, and  now  under  that.  Again,  the  facts  which  are  ac- 
cumulated in  a  course  in  physics  are  capable  of  being  carried 
over  into  the  world  of  mechanics  and  the  world  of  practical 
affairs.  Let  us  take  these  facts,  therefore,  and  see  how 
far  they  can  be  generalized  and  made  useful  in  all  of  the 
different  spheres  of  experience.  The  problem  of  education 
thus  turns  out  to  be  the  problem  of  generalizing  experience. 

1  Educational  Psychology,  Vol.11,  p.  417. 


420     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

GENERALIZATION  AN  ACHIEVEMENT  OF  THE 
ACTIVE  MIND 

There  can  be  only  one  conclusion  drawn  from  the  fore- 
going discussions:  There  is  no  inherent  reason  in  the 
psychology  of  the  individual  mind  or  in  the  psychology  of 
any  subject  of  instruction  for  supposing  that  experience 
cannot  be  generalized.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  rea- 
son to  assume  that  experience  of  any  type  will  infallibly 
carry  over  into  any  other  sphere  whatsoever.  The  gener- 
alizing of  experience  is  a  qualitatively  new  fact  wherever 
it  appears.  Given  experience  A  and  experience  B,  the 
transfer  of  effects  from  A  to  B  is  just  as  much  a  new  psy- 
chological process  where  it  occurs,  as  were  A  and  B  when 
they  first  appeared  in  experience.  To  think  of  A  and  B 
as  related  because  they  exist  is  to  fail  to  understand 
the  psychology  of  generalization.  Everywhere  in  human 
experience  there  are  large  possibilities  of  generalizing  ex- 
perience, and  everywhere  in  school  there  is  danger  that 
experience  will  be  narrowly  specialized. 

FORMALISM  MEANS  AN  ABSENCE  OF  GENERALIZATION 

This  conclusion  can  be  reenforced  by  studying  what  is 
really  criticized  when  one  uses  the  term  "  formal "  as  a  term 
of  condemnation  in  describing  educational  efforts.  One  goes 
back,  for  example,  to  the  period  of  instruction  in  the  classics 
when  extreme  formalism  obtained  in  that  study.  What  do 
we  mean  by  the  statement  that  extreme  formalism  appeared  ? 
We  mean  merely  that  there  was  no  possibility  of  utilizing 
the  results  of  that  classical  study  in  the  life  of  the  student. 
The  study  was  a  closed  domain  of  experience,  useful  only  in 
carrying  the  student  around  a  narrow  circle  of  exercises  which 
terminated  in  more  exercises  of  exactly  the  same  sort  and 
never  stimulated  the  student  to  go  out  in  further  investigation 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  421 

of  the  world.  A  subject  which  gets  itself  so  organized  that  it 
rotates  around  its  own  center  immediately  becomes  formal. 

Attention  has  been  drawn  to  the  fact  in  the  discussion 
of  manual  training  that  even  a  course  in  handwork  may 
become  formal  in  the  same  extreme  sense  in  which  a  course 
in  the  classics  becomes  formal.  A  course  in  mathematics 
may  become  formal  or  a  course  in  science  may  become 
formal.  There  is  nothing  that  is  more  stereotyped  than  a 
course  in  botany  taught  by  an  instructor  who  does  not  see 
the  opportunity  of  generalizing  the  results  of  this  science. 

Over  against  the  formalism  which  is  possible  in  every 
subject,  there  is  the  possibility  of  generalizing  all  sorts  of 
training.  We  may  express  this  in  terms  of  an  earlier  dis- 
cussion by  saying  that  every  science  and  every  subject 
taught  in  the  schools  may  be  made  productive  because  of 
the  higher  forms  of  mental  activity  which  are  stimulated 
by  the  study  itself.  If  one  can  have  his  interest  in  number 
enlarged  by  each  progressive  step  of  mathematical  study, 
he  will  be  carried  forward  in  his  mathematical  studies  in 
such  a  way  that  he  will  find  new  applications  for  the  prin- 
ciples which  he  has  learned.  The  opposite  of  formalism  is 
not  emphasis  on  content,  but  emphasis  on  application.  Any 
content  may  become  formal.  Any  mode  of  procedure  may 
become  formal.  Opposed  to  "  formal "  is  such  a  word  as 
"  vital."  That  is  not  formal  which  moves  forward  to  new 
applications.  Generalized  knowledge  is  not  formal.  Knowl- 
edge which  is  being  used  in  applications,  either  in  the 
evolution  of  higher  thought-processes  or  in  the  solution 
of  practical  problems,  is  not  formal. 

APPLICATION  AS  A  FORM  OF  GENERALIZATION 

The  application  of  a  body  of  information  to  a  particular 
situation  has  sometimes  been  regarded  as  psychologically 
identical  in  character  with  the  possession  of  this  information. 


422     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

Thus,  it  has  been  assumed  in  much  of  our  school  practice 
that  if  a  student  knows  the  principles  of  mechanics  he  will 
be  able  to  discover  these  principles  in  operation  in  the  ordi- 
nary facts  of  everyday  life.  This  expectation  is,  of  course, 
not  justified.  The  boy  who  learns  physics  in  the  laboratory 
goes  out  into  the  workshop  and  passes  many  practical  situa- 
tions in  which  the  results  of  his  physics  would  be  applicable, 
but  fails  utterly  to  recognize  in  these  situations  the  physi- 
cal laws  which  he  knows  in  an  abstract  way.  The  school 
has  undoubtedly  been  remiss  in  its  attention  to  the  phase 
of  mental  life  which  we  here  call  application.  Application 
is,  however,  a  most  difficult  mental  process,  and  needs 
to  be  learned  just  as  the  original  principle  itself  has  to 
be  learned. 

One  of  the  methods  by  which  one  learns  to  apply  experi- 
ence that  he  has  acquired  is  by  the  careful  analysis  of  a 
large  number  of  situations,  and  by  a  statement  in  connection 
with  this  analysis  of  the  fundamental  common  principle 
which  appears  in  all  of  the  different  situations.  Thus,  when 
we  find  the  principle  of  gravity  operating  in  one  experiment 
in  the  physical  laboratory,  and  then  turn  to  a  second  and 
third  experiment  where  the  same  principle  is  exhibited,  we 
are  preparing  to  isolate  from  these  various  different  situa- 
tions the  common  facts  of  gravity.  If  the  student  can  be 
interested  in  discovering  this  common  principle  in  a  great 
variety  of  situations,  he  will  have  a  type  of  mental  attitude 
which  is  different  from  that  which  he  cultivates  in  merely 
contemplating  a  single  fact. 

Successive  examples,  therefore,  should  be  treated  as  the 
opportunity  on  the  part  of  a  teacher  to  cultivate  the  attitude 
of  application.  The  cultivation  of  this  attitude  will  be 
defeated  if  the  instructor  starts  out  with  the  explicit  state- 
ment that  each  of  the  cases  to  be  submitted  contains  the 
particular  factor  under  discussion.  Thus,  if  one  gives  fifty 
examples  of  the  first  law  of  mechanics,  and  explicitly  states 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  423 

at  the  outset  that  these  fifty  examples  are  all  manifestations, 
of  that  first  law,  he  will  not  give  his  students  the  same 
degree  of  training  that  he  would  have  given  if  he  had  mixed 
these  examples  with  examples  of  the  other  laws  of  mechan- 
ics, and  allowed  the  student  to  discover  which  of  the  laws 
of  mechanics  appears  in  each  case. 

•   APPLICATION  HAS  MANY  FORMS 

In  the  same  fashion,  in  algebra  it  is  a  fundamental  mistake 
to  give  to  students  all  of  the  examples  under  a  given  prin- 
ciple with  a  definite  statement  to  the  effect  that  all  of  these 
are  examples  of  a  single  type.  The  student  fails  to  get  the 
mental  training  in  this  case  which  is  desired.  He  merely 
cultivates  a  kind  of  dexterity  of  manipulation  which  is  very 
far  from  a  genuine  application  of  a  scientific  principle. 
Students  leave  school  without  the  ability  to  make  applica- 
tions as  a  separate  mode  of  mental  activity.  The  teacher 
ought  to  recognize  in  all  of  these  cases  that  the  mere  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  is  of  slight  importance  if  the  student 
does  not  acquire  that  higher  power  of  discovering  the  mode 
of  procedure  which  is  appropriate  in  each  case.  The  solution 
of  the  problem  is  mere  routine.  The  classification  of  the 
problem  is  a  form  of  generalization. 

In  the  same  way  we  may  consider  the  possible  extensions 
of  any  course  of  language  study.  If  Latin  is  taught  merely 
for  the  purpose  of  making  it  possible  for  the  student  to  read 
some  of  the  classical  texts,  the  subject  has  a  very  narrow 
range  of  application.  On  the  other  hand,  Latin  may  be 
taught  with  a  view  to  stimulating  students  to  consider  the 
civilization  which  utilized  this  language ;  and  still  better, 
it  may  be  taught  in  such  a  way  that  one  comes  back  to  a 
consideration  of  his  mother  tongue  with  the  enriched  expe- 
riences that  he  gains  through  his  study.  Finally,  if  the  stu- 
dent not  only  realizes  that  Latin  and  his  mother  tongue  have 


424    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

certain  common  structures,  but  learns  also  that  language  in 
all  of  its  development  is  an  expression  of  a  clear  mode  of 
thinking,  and  that  he  can  become  more  lucid  in  his  thought- 
processes  by  mastering  this  instrument  of  thought  —  then 
the  applications  of  Latin  become  highly  productive. 

GENERALIZATION  THE  HIGHEST  AIM  OF  INSTRUCTION 

Generalization  of  ideas  and  extension  of  any  subject  to 
its  possible  applications  is,  therefore,  a  larger  and  more  sig- 
nificant aim  in  education  than  mere  training  in  any  given 
particular  subject.  Those  who  have  opposed  the  doctrine 
of  formal  discipline  by  saying  that  the  school  subjects  at 
the  present  time  do  not  give  a  generalized  training  are  un- 
doubtedly criticizing  not  the  human  mind,  but  our  methods 
of  instruction.  It  is,  indeed,  possible  to  find  courses  in  arith- 
metic and  algebra  which  are  so  narrowing  in  then-  effect 
upon  students'  minds  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  ought 
to  be  included  in  the  course  of  study  at  all.  So  long  as 
narrow-minded  teachers  are  put  in  charge  of  these  courses, 
and  especially  if  teachers  become  imbued  with  the  idea  that 
their  only  business  is  to  cultivate  a  narrow  and  limited  func- 
tion of  mind,  we  shall  have  examples  of  these  pedagogical 
failures  which  in  the  statistics  show  that  training  has  not 
been  transferred. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  has  been  a  very  large  body 
of  experience  which  makes  for  the  conclusion  that  any  sub- 
ject properly  taught  has  a  broadening  influence  upon  the 
student's  general  experience.  The  older  subjects  of  the 
curriculum  have  so  long  served  the  purposes  of  instruction 
that  they  have  cultivated  a  form  of  treatment  and  bofly 
of  material  which  generation  after  generation  has  come  to 
appreciate  as  a  suitable  vehicle  for  the  general  training  of  the 
mind.  These  older  subjects  have  a  distinct  advantage  over 
the  newer  subjects,  which  are  still  trying  out  the  subject 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  425 

matter  which  they  utilize  and  the  methods  of  presenting 
this  subject  matter.  Until  the  newer  subjects  have  mastered 
the  problem  of  selecting  material  they  will  never  be  equal 
to  the  older  subjects  which  have  been  worked  out  by  gen- 
erations of  teachers.  It  is  always  safe  to  assume  that  the 
older  subjects  have  more  possibility  of  successful  employ- 
ment in  the  school  for  any  purpose  of  education  than  have 
the  new  and  untried  subjects,  the  contents  of  which  have 
not  been  worked  over  by  experienced  teachers.  That  the 
newer  subjects  should  be  able  to  impeach  the  older  subjects 
of  frequently  lapsing  into  formalism  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at,  because  it  is  certain  on  the  simplest  calculation  of  chances 
that  the  older  subjects  which  have  been  widely  utilized  in 
the  schools  will  exhibit  more  pedagogical  failures  than  the 
newer  subjects  which  have  not  yet  been  tried  out.  But 
there  is  no  adequate  justification  for  the  loud  contention  of 
the  newer  subjects  that  the  older  subjects  of  the  curriculum 
are  inherently  formal  and  of  necessity  narrow  in  the  effects 
which  they  produce  on  students'  minds. 

GENERALIZATION  APPEARS  IN  MANY'  FORMS 

There  is  one  further  psychological  discussion  which  is 
important  in  concluding  this  treatment  of  formal  discipline. 
Bagley 1  and  a  number  of  other  writers  have  contended 
that  the  transfer  of  training  always  depends  upon  the  con- 
scious recognition  by  students  of  the  possibilities  of  carrying 
over  an  ideal  from  one  course  to  another.  The  statement 
that  a  generalization  must  come  to  explicit  recognition  goes 
too  far.  A  study  of  the  facts  of  mental  development 
reveals  many  different  forms  and  stages  of  the  process  of 
generalization.  For  example,  the  student  who  discovers  a 

1  W.  C.  Bagley,  The  Educative  Process  (The  Macmillan  Company, 
1905);  also  E.  N.  Henderson,  Textbook  in  the  Principles  of  Education, 
p.  213  (The  Macmillan  Company,  1910). 


426     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

general  principle  in  physics  may  get  his  principle  in  one  of 
two  ways :  he  may  either  have  the  principle  presented  to 
him  in  a  definite  and  conscious  form,  after  which  he  seeks 
illustrations  of  the  principle  in  various  facts  which  he  en- 
counters. This  is  commonly  known  as  a  deductive  method 
of  teaching.  Or,  on  the  other  hand,  the  student  may  equally 
well  be  brought  to  the  general  principle  through  .contact 
with  a  number  of  concrete  cases.  He  now  sees  this  case 
and  now  another.  He  learns  to  adjust  himself  in  each  of 
the  particular  cases  without  making  at  the  outset  any 
complete  analysis  of  his  experience. 

PRACTICAL  JUDGMENT  AS  AN  EARLY  FORM  OF 
GENERALIZATION 

Hobhouse1  has  described  in  his  discussion  of  practical 
judgment  the  stage  of  mental  development  which  precedes 
the  full  development  of  conscious  principles.  Practical 
judgment  for  Hobhouse  is  a  mode  of  generalization  in  which 
the  individual  becomes  aware  of  certain  aspects  of  the 
world  without  making  a  complete  conscious  analysis  of  his 
different  experiences.  As  a  result  of  practical  comparisons 
one  carries  over  modes  of  behavior  from  situation  to  situa- 
tion. This  carrying  over  of  experiences  without  complete 
analysis  appears  in  a  large  way  in  all  the  minor  adjustments 
of  life.  In  social  matters,  for  example,  having  cultivated  a 
certain  attitude  toward  a  given  individual,  one  is  likely  to 
behave  in  the  same  general  way  to  everybody  who  vaguely 
reminds  one  of  the  original  person  for  whom  the  mode  of 
behavior  was  cultivated.  One  becomes  in  the  course  of 
time  suddenly  aware  of  the  reason  why  he  behaves  toward 
his  new  acquaintance  as  he  does.  The  reason  is  that  this 
new  acquaintance  resembles  in  some  general  way  people 
who  have  in  earlier  experiences  been  the  subjects  of  certain 

1  L.  T.  Hobhouse,  Mind  in  Evolution,  The  Macmillan  Company,  1902. 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  427 

types  of  behavior.  If  now  we  can  bring  the  individual  to 
the  level  of  clear  conscious  analysis,  we  very  frequently  see 
that  the  rough  analogies  on  which  we  have  been  depend- 
ing are  wholly  inadequate ;  that  is,  the  individual  whom 
I  have  been  treating  in  an  agreeable  way  because  he  re- 
sembled a  friend  may  turn  out  to  be  an  individual  wholly 
undeserving  of  this  attention  on  my  part.  The  conscious 
ideal  or  the  complete  analysis  of  the  situation  then  inter- 
rupts a  mode  of  adjustment  which  has  been  going  on  in  a 
general  way  without  any  clear  knowledge  on  my  part  of 
the  reasons  for  this  mode  of  adjustment.  Conversely,  if  I 
have  been  treating  a  person  badly  because  he  looks  like  one 
of  my  enemies,  I  may  on  discovering  the  real  reason  of  my 
attitude  suddenly  find  that  I  ought  to  revise  this  attitude. 
The  earlier  stages  of  such  situations  can  be  described  as 
stages  of  practical  judgment  of  a  rather  crude  and  indefinite 
sort.  To  say  that  all  transfer  of  attitudes  depends  upon 
clear  and  conscious  ideals  is  to  fail  to  recognize  these  early 
stages  of  practical  judgment.  It  would  be  more  in  keeping 
with  the  facts  to  say  that  we  rely  on  all  sorts  of  practical 
judgments  until  some  failure  makes  us  aware  of  the  inade- 
quacy of  our  vague  generalizations.  Then  we  cultivate  a 
higher  form  of  generalization. 

LANGUAGE  AN  INSTRUMENT  OF  GENERALIZATION 

The  discussion  of  generalization  in  the  chapter  on  science 
brought  out  the  fact  that  in  many  cases  generalization  is 
dependent  on  the  use  of  words.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  this  fact  was  one  of  the  chief  considerations  which  led 
Bagley  to  his  doctrine  of  transfer  through  conscious  ideals. 
When  a  child  is  led  to  see,  through  the  use  of  words,  that 
various  situations  are  all  capable  of  one  identical  treatment, 
he  discovers  what  he  would  otherwise  overlook,  and  gener- 
alization is  greatly  aided. 


428     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

On  the  other  hand,  as  has  been  pointed  out  repeatedly  in 
all  the  discussions  of  language,  the  student  may  be  led  away 
from  true  generalizations  into  mere  substitutes  for  general- 
izations by  words.  This  is  the  reason  why  ideals  which  are 
expressed  in  words  are  often  very  formal  in  character.  One 
may  tell  a  student,  for  example,  that  he  ought  to  concen- 
trate his  attention,  and  he  may  have  the  theoretical  ideal 
of  concentration  well  in  mind  and  yet  be  quite  unable  in 
practice  to  realize  the  advantages  of  this  ideal.  What  is 
needed  in  this  case  is  a  real  generalization  or  a  translation 
of  his  verbally  recognized  principle  into  an  actual  mode  of 
behavior.  This  translation  into  an  actual  mode  of  behavior 
very  frequently  differs  so  radically  from  the  recognition  of 
the  verbal  statement  of  the  principle  that  the  student  may  be 
fully  aware  of  the  principle  in  one  form  but  altogether  un- 
acquainted with  it  in  the  other.  Even  then  the  verbal  prin- 
ciple may  be  a  useful  means  of  education.  Thus,  when  one 
is  told  to  concentrate  his  attention  he  will  try  first  by  one 
method  and  then  by  another.  He  will  withdraw  himself 
from  all  sorts  of  distractions.  He  will  read  out  loud  in  order 
to  facilitate  the  concentration  of  attention.  He  will  wrinkle 
his  forehead  as  Fechner  indicated  that  he  always  did  when 
he  was  trying  to  concentrate  attention.  He  will  sometimes 
adopt  devices  that  seem  to  an  onlooker  to  promote  distrac- 
tion rather  than  concentration,  such  as  beating  a  rhythm 
with  his  fingers  on  the  desk,  or  whistling,  or  stamping  his 
feet.  These  different  devices  adopted  by  the  student  who 
is  trying  to  concentrate  his  attention  are  very  difficult  to 
relate  to  the  general  verbal  formula,  and  yet  the  steady 
holding  of  the  verbal  formula  before  one's  mind  may  lead 
one  to  try  a  great  variety  of  experiments  in  the  concentra- 
tion of  attention.  Ultimately  these  experiments  may  result 
in  the  adoption  of  some  practical  mode  of  procedure  which 
will  satisfy  the  formula  with  which  one  started.  The  ver- 
bal formula  in  this  case  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  the  actual 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  429 

habit  to  which  it  relates,  but  it  is  a  kind  of  stimulus  or  a 
kind  of  reminder  that  one  ought  to  seek  continually  some 
habit  of  concentration.  To  say  that  the  transfer  has  taken 
place  in  this  case  through  a  conscious  ideal  is  to  fail  to 
recognize  the  fact  that  the  value  of  the  verbal  formula  is 
that  it  is  of  such  a  general  type  that  it  can  stimulate  in  a 
great  many  different  cases  the  development  of  a  great  many 
different  kinds  of  detailed  procedure.  Thus  the  concentra- 
tion of  attention  when  one  is  reading  may  be  wholly  differ- 
ent from  the  concentration  of  attention  when  one  is  listening 
to  music  or  to  a  lecture ;  and  yet  the  effort  to  concentrate 
attention  in  these  different  cases  may  be  promoted  by  the 
presence  in  the  mind  of  the  student  of  the  verbal  formula 
that  he  must  pay  as  close  attention  as  he  can. 

LANGUAGE  ITSELF  A  GENERALIZED  MODE  OF  BEHAVIOR 

In  general,  as  has  been  pointed  out  in  earlier  discussions, 
language  is  a  general  mode  of  behavior  capable  of  connect- 
ing itself  with  all  sorts  of  particular  habits.  It  is  a  kind  of 
generalized  sphere  of  action,  and  as  such  a  general  sphere 
of  action  it  becomes  an  influential  element  in  all  sorts  of  sit- 
uations. It  is  indeed  a  common  element  of  all  of  these  dif- 
ferent situations,  but  it  is  a  common  element  in  the  sense 
that  it  is  a  higher  type  of  adjustment  than  any  particular 
mode  of  procedure.  As  such  a  higher  type  of  procedure,  it 
reaches  down  into  a  variety  of  concrete  situations.  Its  value 
arises  from  the  fact  that  it  is  a  general  mode  of  behavior. 

EMOTION  A  FORM  OF  GENERAL  BEHAVIOR 

There  are  other  general  modes  of  behavior  besides  lan- 
guage. For  example,  one  of  these  general  modes  of  behavior 
which  is  of  a  good  deal  of  importance  is  the  emotional  re- 
action of  the  individual.  We  speak  in  ordinary  life  of  the 


430     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

optimistic  attitude  of  an  individual,  and  we  have  every 
evidence  that  the  optimistic  attitude  is  a  favorable  attitude 
in  whatever  particular  line  of  accomplishment  the  individ- 
ual expresses  himself.  A  person  who  is  constantly  opti- 
mistic will  undertake  all  sorts  of  enterprises  in  a  spirit 
of  energy  and  enthusiasm  which  is  wholly  different  from 
that  exhibited  by  a  pessimistic  individual.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  skillful  teacher  should  be  interested  in 
the  cultivation  of  such  favorable  general  attitudes.  The 
failure  of  teachers  to  appreciate  the  value  of  optimism 
appears  at  times  in  the  fact  that  they  correct  the  student 
so  frequently  in  classes  as  to  develop  an  expectation  on  his 
part  that  he  is  going  to  fail  in  everything  that  he  tries  to 
do.  The  withdrawals  from  school  which  are  so  characteris- 
tic of  the  earlier  years  of  the  high  school  are  connected  in 
no  small  measure  with  the  unfavorable  emotional  attitude 
aroused  in  the  class  exercises. 

These  general  emotional  attitudes  may  attach  themselves 
to  all  sorts  of  particular  situations.  Thus,  one  may  be  opti- 
mistic about  getting  a  Latin  lesson  or  he  may  be  optimistic 
about  a  game  of  football.  He  may  be  optimistic  about  a 
business  venture  or  he  may  be  optimistic  about  the  move- 
ments of  his  political  party.  In  any  case  he  will  react  in 
each  of  these  situations  with  a  general  organic  vigor  which 
is  represented  in  his  own  experience  by  the  pleasure  that 
attaches  to  his  reaction.  It  cannot  be  stated  that  the  emo- 
tional reactions  in  the  various  manifestations  of  optimism 
are  identical  in  detail,  because  all  of  our  psychological  an- 
alyses go  to  show  that  the  pleasure  which  comes  from  the 
solution  of  a  problem  of  an  intellectual  type  is  different 
from  the  pleasure  which  comes  from  physical  exercise.  Yet 
the  two  are  of  the  same  general  type  ;  and  both  represent  a 
kind  of  organic  vigor  arid  a  mode  of  organic  reaction  which 
becomes  typical  of  the  individual  and  characteristic  of  all 
his  behavior.  This  kind  of  example  serves  also  to  reenforce 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  431 

what  was  said  a  few  paragraphs  above  with  regard  to  the 
importance  of  personality  as  the  central  element  in  all  sorts 
of  situations.  There  is  nothing  more  typical  of  one's  per- 
sonality than  his  emotional  moods  and  his  general  reactions 
of  optimism  or  jpessimism. 

INTELLECTUAL  METHODS  WHICH  ARE  GENERALIZED 

Further  examples  of  general  reactions  will  be  discovered 
if  we  analyze  the  typical  school  situations  in  which  an 
effort  is  made  to  cultivate  general  habits.  Take,  for  ex- 
ample, the  series  of  exercises  which  are  used  in  the  algebra 
class  to  make  a  student  thoroughly  familiar  with  a  given 
principle  of  factoring  or  a  given  mode  of  procedure  in  mul- 
tiplication or  division.  One  may  say  that  the  various  exer- 
cises which  the  student  works  out  are  intended  to  acquaint 
him  with  the  same  mode  of  procedure  as  it  appears  in  a 
variety  of  different  connections.  He  uses  a  certain  prin- 
ciple of  factoring  now  in  one  situation  and  now  in  another, 
or  he  uses  the  process  of  multiplication  now  with  one  com- 
bination of  letters  and  now  with  another.  The  common 
fact  in  each  of  these  different  situations  is  the  mathemati- 
cal process  as  distinguished  from  the  actual  recombination 
of  the  particular  elements  that  enter  into  the  special  exer- 
cise. From  the  point  of  view  of  the  mathematician,  there 
is  a  common  element  in  all  of  these  situations ;  but  that 
common  element  is  a  general  principle,  which  general  prin- 
ciple and  general  mode  of  procedure  must  be  discovered 
after  one  has  solved  a  number  of  the  particular  situations 
in  which  the  general  mode  of  procedure  occurs.  The  gen- 
eral principle  to  be  comprehended  is  not  a  part  of  each  one 
of  the  situations.  It  is  the  product  in  the  individual's  mind 
of  a  comparison  of  all  these  different  particular  cases.  It 
cannot  be  said  that  the  general  mode  of  procedure  appears 
in  case  one  and  case  two  and  case  three,  or  that  it  is 


432     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

something  which  can  be  detached  from  each  of  these  cases 
and  looked  at  as  a  common  element.  The  general  principle 
arises  from  the  comparison  of  case  one  with  case  two  and 
case  three.  The  power  of  making  this  comparison  and  of 
arriving  at  a  general  mode  of  procedure  is  a  higher  power 
than  the  power  of  solving  the  particular  problem.  This 
fact,  that  the  recognition  of  the  general  principle  is  a  higher 
type  of  power  than  that  which  is  involved  in  the  solution 
of  particular  problems,  appears  again  and  again  in  the  train- 
ing of  students.  There  are  many  students  who  know  how 
to  solve  a  problem  if  they  are  told  which  process  to  employ, 
but  they  do  not  know  enough  about  the  problem  to  select 
the  process  which  is  appropriate  to  the  situation  in  hand. 
The  mastery  of  the  general  principle  is  therefore  a  new 
type  of  mental  achievement. 

In  the  same  way  the  student  discovers  a  general  prin- 
ciple of  language  structure  when  he  learns,  for  example, 
that  all  nominative  cases  have  certain  characteristics.  He 
is  not  merely  taking  an  element  that  appears  in  one  ex- 
ample of  the  nominative  case,  and  in  the  second  example 
the  same  sort,  and  so  on,  recognizing  an  element  common 
to  all  of  these  different  situations;  he  is  learning  rather 
to  extract  from  a  variety  of  experiences  a  general  principle 
or  rule.  The  discovery  of  this  general  principle  or  rule  is 
a  new  performance ;  it  is  an  expression  of  the  power  of 
generalization.  The  cultivation  of  this  power  of  general- 
ization is  the  most  important  achievement  in  the  student's 
education.  It  will  not  come  without  special  endeavor  on 
the  part  of  the  student  and  on  the  part  of  the  teacher. 

METHODS  OF  INDUCING  GENEKALIZATION 

The  same  conclusion  is  reached  if  we  examine  some  of 
the  practical  methods  which  are  adopted  in  school  work  to  in- 
duce students  to  generalize  their  experiences.  Undoubtedly 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  433 

one  of  the  most  advantageous  methods  that  can  be  em- 
ployed is  to  give  students  a  verbal  statement  or  conscious 
ideal  as  Bagley  suggests.  A  verbal  formula  which  will 
stimulate  a  student  to  strive  on  various  occasions  for  con- 
centration of  attention  is  a  suitable  instrument  for  the 
teacher  to  employ  in  developing  concentration.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  teacher  knows  full  well  that  the  mere 
presentation  of  this  verbal  formula  is  not  enough ;  conse- 
quently he  devises  situations  which  he  presents  to  the 
student  with  a  view  to  furnishing  him  the  opportunity  of 
applying  his  verbal  formula  and  making  generalizations. 
These  situations  ought  to  be  organized  in  such  a  way  that 
it  will  be  relatively  easy  for  the  student  to  make  a  general- 
ization. Sometimes  the  generalization  can  be  reached  by 
the  comparisons  of  a  number  of  cases.  Every  teacher  is 
aware  of  the  value  of  a  comparison  as  a  means  of  training 
the  student  to  arrive  at  generalizations  of  his  own.  For 
example,  if  one  wishes  to  get  the  general  meaning  of  a 
foreign  word  clearly  in  the  mind  of  a  student  it  is  always 
advantageous  to  compare  the  word  with  certain  synonyms. 
The  purpose  of  this  comparison  is  not  to  bring  out  an  iden- 
tical element  which  appears  in  all  cases.  Very  frequently 
the  purpose  of  comparison  is  to  bring  out  unlike  elements. 
In  the  same  way,  if  one  is  working  on  the  scientific  descrip- 
tion of  an  animal  in  zoology  or  a  plant  in  botany  the  most 
impressive  lesson  can  be  derived  from  comparison  and  con- 
trast. The  use  of  the  terms  "comparison"  and  "  contrast" 
shows  that  generalizations  very  often  deal  with  something 
besides  common  elements  in  different  situations.  There  are 
discoverable  relationships  in  all  of  the  different  situations, 
but  the  discovery  of  a  relationship  which  can  be  regarded 
as  a  general  element  of  a  variety  of  different  situations  is 
a  new  achievement.  Suppose,  for  example,  that  one  wishes 
to  show  that  the  structure  of  an  animal  that  lives  in  water 
is  very  different  from  the  structure  of  an  animal  that  lives 


434    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

in  the  air.  The  contrast  between  the  two  cases  will  lead 
directly  to  generalizations  about  relations  of  function  to 
structure  which  could  not  be  secured  if  all  of  the  animals 
were  of  a  single  type.  In  the  same  way,  hi  discussing 
geometry  it  has  been  found  advantageous  to  contrast  the 
space  which  we  know  with  such  hypothetical  space  as  the 
non-Euclidean  geometricians  devise  for  the  purely  theo- 
retical purposes  of  contrast.  Here  the  mind  creates  a  sit- 
uation for  the  purpose  of  aiding  contrast  rather  than  for 
the  purpose  of  discovering  similarity  of  elements.  As  was 
pointed  out  in  the  discussion  of  the  study  of  foreign  lan- 
guages one  of  the  most  useful  functions  of  this  study  is  to 
supply  a  student  with  a  background  for  the  application  of 
his  mother  tongue. 

ATTENTION  TO  GENERALIZATIONS  A  PRODUCT  OF 
INSTRUCTION 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  all  the  efforts  of  the  school 
to  induce  generalization  lead  to  an  attitude  of  mind  which 
can  be  described  as  the  generalizing  attitude.  Wherever  a 
student  has  seen  the  possibility  of  analyzing  various  situa- 
tions and  discovering  productive  relationships  between  these 
different  particular  situations,  he  will  be  stimulated  to  treat 
new  problems  in  the  same  way.  He  will  see  the  possibility 
of  analyzing  everything  that  comes  into  his  experience  for 
the  purpose  of  discovering  general  principles.  We  have 
here  a  broad  habit  of  mind  which  is  undoubtedly  very 
largely  promoted  through  the  use  of  language  as  a  general- 
ized mode  of  reaction  upon  all  situations.  The  habit  of 
verbal  analysis  is  a  general  habit  dominating  all  of  the  de- 
tailed habits  of  mental  life.  In  our  discussion  of  scientific 
method  we  have  pointed  out  the  fact  that  there  is  such  a 
generalized  habit  of  scientific  analysis  which  can  be  culti- 
vated through  the  study  of  all  of  the  sciences.  The  only 


GENERALIZED  EXPERIENCE  435 

additional  remark  which  needs  to  be  made  at  this  point  is 
that  the  teacher  must  explicitly  cultivate  this  general  habit. 


FAEEWELL  TO  CRITICS  OP  FORMAL  DISCIPLINE 

In  conclusion,  we  may  be  permitted  to  set  the  teachings 
of  this  chapter  in  as  sharp  contrast  as  possible  with  the  posi- 
tion taken  by  those  who  teach  a  doctrine  of  specialized  men- 
tal functions.  This  chapter  is  intended  to  teach  a  doctrine 
which  is  diametrically  opposed  to  the  following  principle 
announced  in  1905  by  Thorndike  in  his  "  Principles  of 
Teaching,"  p.  248 : 

Training  the  mind  means  the  development  of  thousands  of 
particular  independent  capacities,  the  formation  of  countless 
particular  habits,  for  the  working  of  any  mental  capacity  de- 
pends upon  the  concrete  data  with  which  it  works. 

Or,  putting  the  matter  in  another  way,  this  chapter  is 
intended  to  prevent  the  violent  oscillations  described  by 
Thorndike  in  his  "  Educational  Psychology,"  published  in 
1913  (Vol.  II,  pp.  364-365)  : 

The  notions  of  mental  machinery  which,  being  improved  for 
one  sort  of  data,  held  the  improvement  equally  for  all  sorts ; 
of  magic  powers  which,  being  trained  by  exercise  of  one  sort 
to  a  high  efficiency,  held  that  efficiency  whatever  they  might 
be  exercised  upon ;  and  of  the  mind  as  a  reservoir  for  potential 
energy  which  could  be  filled  by  any  one  activity  and  drawn  on 
for  any  other  —  have  now  disappeared  from  expert  writings 
on  psychology.  A  survey  of  experimental  results  is  now  needed 
perhaps  as  much  to  prevent  the  opposite  superstition ;  for, 
apparently,  some  careless  thinkers  have  rushed  from  the  belief 
in  totally  general  training  to  the  belief  that  training  is  totally 
specialized.  In  any  case,  such  a  survey  is  the  safest  prepara- 
tion for  deciding  theoretical  or  practical  questions  concerning 
the  effect  of  the  improvement  of  any  one  function,  in  school 
or  out,  upon  the  efficiency  of  other  functions. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY 

TEACHERS  NOT  EQUIPPED  WITH  METHOD  OF  TRAINING 
STUDENTS  TO  STUDY 

The  theme  of  this  chapter  can  be  illustrated  by  an  ex- 
ample given  the  writer  by  a  high-school  principal  who  is 
much  concerned  with  the  problem  of  teaching  students  how 
to  do  their  school  work  efficiently.  He  has  so  organized  his 
school  that  one  period  a  day  is  set  aside  for  consultation  be- 
tween each  teacher  and  some  class.  During  the  last  period 
of  the  'day  on  every  Monday  the  teachers  meet  the  classes 
which  hi  the  daily  program  recite  during  the  first  period  of 
the  day;  on  Tuesdays,  during  the  last  period,  classes  go 
to  the  teachers  who  have  charge  of  their  recitations  during 
the  second  period  of  the  day ;  and  so  on.  When  the  teacher 
and  the  class  meet  in  this  additional  period,  it  is  not  for 
the  purpose  of  an  additional  recitation ;  the  purpose  of  this 
period  is  to  direct  students  in  the  methods  of  getting  their 
lessons  efficiently  and  economically.  The  program  above 
described  was  arranged  and  the  classes  met  the  teachers. 
Then  it  was  discovered  that  the  teachers  did  not  know 
what  to  say  to  the  students.  Teachers  know  about  Latin 
and  mathematics.  They  can  ask  questions  in  these  subjects  ; 
but  they  do  not  know  about  students'  minds  in  a  way  which 
makes  it  possible  to  tell  students  how  to  study. 

One  becomes  most  acutely  aware  of  the  problem  of 
method  of  study  when  a  student  is  in  difficulty.  How  shall 
we  help  him  out  of  his  difficulty  ?  Yet  the  more  important 
problem  is  to  make  increasingly  efficient  those  students 

436 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  437 

who  are  not  in  difficulty.  Most  teachers  do  not  realize  that 
good  students  need  help  in  methods  of  work.  The  result 
is  that  a  teacher  confronted  with  a  class  which  he  has  met 
that  morning  in  a  Latin  recitation,  and  told  that  his  duty  in 
this  second  period  is  to  teach  not  Latin  but  the  methods 
of  study,  stands  dumb  and  embarrassed.  If  someone  fails 
in  a  Latin  construction,  this  teacher  can  tell  him  the  cor- 
rect construction.  If  someone  uses  a  clumsy  Latin  phrase, 
the  teacher  knows  Latin  enough  to  suggest  improvement. 
When  it  comes  to  improving  mental  processes,  how  differ- 
ent the  case !  The  teacher  has  little  training. 

PSYCHOLOGY  AS  SCIENCE  OF  METHODS  OF  STUDY 

This  is  the  point  at  which  the  student  of  psychology  finds 
his  opportunity  to  review  what  he  has  to  say  in  his  discus- 
sion of  the  psychology  of  the  various  subjects.  The  psychol- 
ogist deals  in  mental  processes  and  difficulties.  He  knows 
neither  Latin  nor  mathematics  except  as  content  for  mental 
processes.  He  is  therefore  eager  to  impress  on  the  Latin 
teacher  and  the  teacher  of  mathematics  the  desirability  of 
becoming  psychologists  as  well.  The  following  pages  will 
be  devoted  to  the  effort  to  set  forth  in  a  concrete  way  the 
kind  of  considerations  which  a  teacher  might  take  up  with 
a  class  which  he  meets  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  the 
problem  of  how  to  study.  Some  of  the  illustrations  will  be 
drawn  from  the  earlier  chapters  of  this  book,  some  from 
classroom  experiences. 

PSYCHOLOGY  OF  DIFFERENT  TYPES  OF  STUDY 

First,  attention  may  be  called  to  the  fact  that  a  sharp 
contrast  can  be  drawn  between  studying  by  one's  self  with 
the  aid  of  a  book  and  studying  with  the  cooperation  of 
others,  as,  for  example,  when  a  class  as  a  whole  reads  a  book 


438     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

and  considers  its  contents  in  conference.  The  student  who 
sits  down  alone  with  a  book  does  not  have  in  his  own  per- 
sonal experiences  the  same  number  of  questions  about  the 
meaning  of  the  text  or  the  same  number  of  ideas  growing 
out  of  his  reading  of  the  text  as  would  a  group  of  people. 
While  one  individual  reading  a  book  sees  in  the  text  diffi- 
culties or  suggestions,  two  individuals  will  have,  possibly, 
not  twice  as  many  questions  and  suggestions,  but  certainly 
more  than  the  single  individual  would  have.  Therefore, 
when  two  people  read  a  book  together  they  may  help  each 
other  by  raising  questions  which .  represent  two  different 
individual  points  of  view.  It  would  be  very  valuable  for 
someone  to  set  the  same  lesson  to  be  studied,  first  by  a 
class  that  took  it  for  home  work,  and,  second,  by  a  class 
that  read  the  same  book  over  with  the  teacher  and  with  the 
other  members  of  the  class.  After  these  two  different  types 
of  study,  an  investigation  might  be  made  of  the  differences 
between  the  points  of  view  cultivated  and  the  completeness 
with  which  the  information  was  criticized. 

The  foregoing  paragraph  also  suggests  that  different 
kinds  of  subjects  need  to  be  approached  in  different  ways. 
For  example,  it  might  be  very  profitable  to  study  a  history 
lesson  or  a  geography  lesson  with  the  class  as  a  whole ;  on 
the  other  hand,  the  study  of  a  lesson  in  spelling  might  better 
be  undertaken  by  the  individual  without  the  cooperation 
of  the  class.  Or  perhaps  the  last  example  should  be  modi- 
fied so  as  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  if  the  class  as  a 
whole  studies  the  spelling  lesson  the  method  of  procedure 
will  be  one  of  discussion  of  the  different  words  rather  than 
a  concentration  on  the  individual  words,  whereas  if  the 
student  studies  the  words  by  himself  he  is  likely  to  give 
himself  up  to  the  exact  memorizing  of  the  words  rather 
than  to  their  discussion. 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  439 

RAPID  SURVEY 

A  second  general  topic  which  it  is  important  to  discuss 
is  the  distinction  between  a  careful  analytical  study  of  a 
subject  and  the  development  of  a  general  point  of  view  by 
rapidly  reading  over  a  body  of  material.  For  example,  the 
student  who  is  given  a  passage  in  history  to  learn  may 
advantageously  read  the  whole  section  that  has  been  as- 
signed to  him  at  a  single  sitting,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining 
a  general  view  of  the  subject,  and  then  he  may  come  back 
to  the  detailed  examination  of  the  particular  incidents  that 
enter  into  the  full  description.  Evidently  a  general  reading 
of  an  arithmetic  lesson  or  a  lesson  in  algebra  would  be  less 
productive.  In  some  cases,  however,  a  general  reading  of 
the  whole  lesson  might  be  advantageous  even  when  the 
lesson  is  of  the  type  that  one  finds  in  algebra;  but  here 
the  successive  stages  of  any  topic  depend  so  much  upon  a 
clear  comprehension  of  everything  that  has  gone  before  that 
it  is  probably  not  desirable  for  the  student  to  emphasize 
the  whole  until  he  has  mastered  the  successive  steps  of  the 
reasoning. 

Undoubtedly  the  attitude  of  a  minute  study  of  each 
individual  sentence  is  sometimes  carried  to  an  extreme. 
The  student  puzzles  over  the  exact  meaning  of  a  certain 
sentence  when  the  exact  meaning  cannot  be  understood 
except  in  the  light  of  fuller  exposition  which  follows  later 
in  the  paragraph.  This  puzzling  over  a  single  sentence  con- 
sumes much  time,  and  leads  to  a  mental  habit  of  distracted 
thinking  which  is  opposed  to  the  interests  of  rapid  assim- 
ilation of  large  bodies  of  material.  The  student  should  be 
trained  both  in  careful  analytical  study  and  in  general 
study  of  whole  passages,  but  the  two  types  of  training 
should  not  come  at  the  same  time. 

The  rate  at  which  a  student  assimilates  material  is  a 
matter  of  importance.  It  is  not  desirable  that  he  should  be 


440     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

hurried  in  his  mental  processes,  otherwise  he  is  likely  to 
become  confused.  If  he  is  told  that  he  must  get  a  thing 
done  in  a  limited  space  of  time,  this  very  requirement  is 
itself  a  subject  of  attention.  The  student  is  constantly  dis- 
tracted by  looking  forward  to  the  end  of  the  lesson,  and  is 
therefore  unable  to  take  the  successive  steps  of  the  reason- 
ing without  distraction.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  mistake 
to  allow  a  student  to  develop  habits  of  excessively  slow 
reasoning  and  slow  study.  He  should  be  encouraged  to 
work,  while  he  works,  at  a  maximum  rate.  One  of  the  sim- 
plest ways  of  securing  this  maximum  rate  of  study  is  to 
give  explicit  training  in  the  mastery  of  short  sections  of  a 
subject  where  the  confusion  from  the  demand  to  work 
rapidly  will  not  be  great.  Let  the  teacher  set,  under  his 
own  guidance  and  supervision,  a  short  paragraph  and  ask 
the  student  to  get  it  as  soon  as  possible.  The  task  of  con- 
centrating attention  at  a  high  level  for  a  brief  period  of  time 
does  not  make  an  excessive  demand  on  the  student's  powers ; 
and  if  he  finds  that  he  can  do  this  for  short  sections,  the 
sections  may  gradually  be  increased  in  length. 

OBSERVING  METHODS  OF  STUDY 

One  of  the  best  opportunities  for  observing  the  way  in 
which  students  do  then*  work  is  in  the  study  period.  If  the 
teacher  will  acquaint  himself  with  the"  sections  in  the  book 
which  the  student  is  supposed  to  be  studying  and  will  form 
a  rough,  general  estimate  of  the  length  of  time  that  is 
necessary  for  the  reading  of  a  page  of  printed  matter,  he 
may  then  watch  the  student  and  see  whether  he  is  reading  at 
a  reasonable  rate.  Very  frequently  it  will  be  observed  that 
the  reader  turns  away  from  the  book  and  looks  out  of  the 
window  or  does  something  else,  indicating  that  he  is  dis- 
tracted from  the  reading  itself.  Sometimes  this  turning 
away  from  the  book  indicates  a  genuine  thought-process. 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  441 

The  reader  gets  an  idea  from  the  passage  and  stops  to 
consider  the  value  of  the  idea.  In  general,  in  an  immature 
reader  this  is  not  a  fact.  The  turning  away  from  the  book 
is  an  indication  of  an  interruption  rather  than  of  the 
working  out  of  an  idea. 

Careful  observation  of  different  individual  students  will 
undoubtedly  bring  out  the  fact  that  some  students  are  able 
to  concentrate  for  a  longer  period  of  time  and  to  do  their 
work  at  a  higher  rate  of  speed.  If  the  teacher  can  learn  to 
discriminate  in  this  way  between  the  different  members  of 
the  class,  he  or  she  can  later  concentrate  attention  upon 
those  who  do  not  know  how  to  stick  to  the  problem.  Here 
again  the  best  method  is  to  help  them  to  concentrate 
attention  on  short  passages. 

The  mere  social  desire  to  get  things  done  as  rapidly  as 
somebody  else  can  be  used  in  this  connection.  Certainly 
there  are  some  subjects  where  social  emulation  can  very 
properly  be  employed.  Thus,  in  simple  mathematical  exer- 
cises it  is  proper  to  get  up  speed  by  competition.  This  speed 
should  not  be  cultivated  in  such  a  way  as  to  excite  students 
too  much.  There  is  danger,  if  a  speed  exercise  is  continued 
for  ten  minutes,  that  the  excitement  will  become  too  intense. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  little  excitement  for  a  short  period, 
say  through  a  five-minute  exercise,  is  entirely  legitimate 
and  desirable.  In  the  same  way,  speed  exercises  in  silent 
reading  are  entirely  legitimate  and  should  be  undertaken 
from  tune  to  time.  The  habit  of  oral  reading,  and  reading 
at  the  rate  of  oral  reading,  should  be  corrected  by  giving 
definite  exercises  in  rapid  silent  reading. 

ASKING  QUESTIONS  OF  PEOPLE  AND  OF  BOOKS 

Another  important  problem  in  learning  how  to  study  is 
to  learn  how  to  get  information  from  books.  The  student 
should  have  the  matter  explained  to  him  in  some  such 


442     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

terms  as  these :  If  one  needs  information  and  goes  to  some 
other  person  and  asks  for  it,  he  can  keep  on  asking  the 
person  questions  until  a  method  of  answering  is  adopted 
which  the  questioner  can  understand.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  one  goes  to  a  book  and  insists  on  getting  the  information 
in  just  the  form  in  which  the  question  is  present  in  one's 
mind,  he  is  not  likely  to  find  the  exact  answer  to  his  ques- 
tion in  the  book.  The  way  in  which  one  has  to  get  infor- 
mation out  of  the  book  is  to  learn  to  use  the  book  in  its 
own  way.  Perhaps  the  information  which  one  wants  is 
scattered  over  three  or  four  pages.  Possibly  it  is  to  be 
found  only  by  consulting  two  or  three  different  books. 
Asking  questions  of  books,  therefore,  consists  in  getting 
one's  self  trained  so  that  he  can  get  from  the  books  what 
he  wants  by  looking  at  the  different  places  in  the  book 
where  the  different  parts  of  his  information  are  to  be  found. 
Very  frequently  one  has  to  read  in  the  book  many  things 
that  he  does  not  need  for  the  answering  of  his  question. 
In  this  respect  looking  in  a  book  is  not  altogether  different 
from  asking  a  person  questions.  One  very  frequently  gets 
more  information  than  he  needs  when  he  asks  a  question. 
The  one  who  answers  starts  out  to  give  the  answer,  but  he 
includes  several  other  things.  The  listener  must  learn  to 
make  a  selection  from  among  the  things  he  hears  if  he  is  to 
concentrate  his  attention  on  the  particular  items  wanted. 
In  like  fashion,  if  one  consults  a  book  with  a  question  in  his 
mind,  the  answer  which  he  seeks  must  be  secured  through 
a  careful,  selective  reading  just  as  in  the  case  of  personal 
inquiry;  but  here,  in  addition  to  selecting  from  an  over- 
supply  of  information,  one  must  know  the  technique  of 
going  through  the  book.  Getting  answers  to  a  question  is 
in  any  case  different  from  the  process  of  merely  learning 
straight  ahead  what  is  in  the  book  or  what  is  given  to  one 
by  someone  else's  dictation.  When  one  reads  straight 
ahead  in  a  book  and  gets  the  information  that  is  there 


443 

presented,  he  follows  the  lead  of  someone  else.  He  tries 
to  formulate  his  thinking  along  lines  laid  down  in  the  book. 
The  difficulty  with  this  process  of  simply  following  some- 
one else's  lead  is  that  very  shortly  one  comes  on  a  sentence 
or  a  statement  which  he  does  not  understand.  He  is  then 
obliged  to  ask  some  sort  of  a  question  in  order  to  clear  up 
the  difficulty.  If  he  does  not  know  how  to  ask  that  ques- 
tion, or  if  he  is  not  alert  enough  to  see  that  failure  to  under- 
stand the  passage  ought  to  lead  him  to  ask  a  question, 
he  becomes  confused  and  unable  to  go  on  with  his  work. 
Students  are  often  confronted  by  difficult  passages,  and 
they  do  not  know  what  to  do  with  them  simply  because 
they  have  not  been  trained  in  the  course  of  their  earlier 
work  to  ask  questions  about  difficulties  and  to  find  answers 
to  these  questions.  It  is  highly  important,  therefore,  that 
students  should  be  trained  to  ask  questions  and  get  answers. 

FORMULATING  PRODUCTIVE  QUESTIONS 

One  important  part  of  instruction  in  any  course  should 
accordingly  be  to  get  the  students  to  raise  questions  about 
the  subject  under  discussion.  It  would  be  an  excellent  prac- 
tice to  require  the  class  to  formulate  questions  about  each 
lesson.  Some  of  these  the  teacher  could  answer  directly, 
thus  exhibiting  the  importance  of  social  relations  and  social 
methods  of  getting  information.  Some  of  the  questions 
should  not  be  answered  by  the  teacher,  but  should  be  given 
back  to  the  class  as  problems  to  be  solved. 

Assuming  that  a  question  has,  in  some  fashion,  been 
raised  either  by  the  teacher  or  by  some  member  of  the  class 
who  encounters  a  difficulty  which  he  does  not  readily  over- 
come, there  should  now  be  a  careful  consideration  of  the 
methods  of  getting  answers  to  this  question.  The  first  and 
readiest  method  has  already  been  suggested.  Let  someone 
who  has  the  information  in  his  mind  and  sees  the  point  of 


444     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

the  question  give  an  answer.  Very  frequently  an  answer 
will  be  given  which  does  not  entirely  cover  the  question. 
It  is  interesting,  then,  to  subdivide  the  question  to  show 
that  the  answer  given  is  a  partial  answer.  Finally,  the  class 
will  be  brought  to  the  point  where  no  one  has  exactly  the 
information  that  is  needed  to  answer  a  part  of  the  question 
that  has  been  asked.  One  must  now  turn  to  the  more 
elaborate  authorities  for  this  answer.  The  methods  of  turn- 
ing to  these  authorities  should  be  taught.  The  teacher 
can  very  frequently  give  the  necessary  method  by  teaching 
students  to  turn  to  other  parts  of  the  textbook  which  they 
have  in  hand.  Thus  a  student  who  is  in  difficulty  with  a 
problem  in  algebra  ought  to  be  taught  how  to  turn  back 
to  the  early  parts  of  the  book  and  get  the  answer  to  his 
difficulty.  Turning  back  to  the  earlier  parts  of  a  book  may 
involve  turning  to  the  table  of  contents.  Another  way  of 
turning  back  to  the  earlier  parts  of  the  book  is  to  look  over 
rapidly  all  of  the  matter  which  is  contained  in  the  first  part 
of  the  book.  Students  should  be  shown  that  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  run  through  fifty  or  sixty  pages  of  a  book  in  looking 
for  an  explanation  of  a  difficulty  which  is  encountered  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  book.  Indeed,  one  ought  to  get  into 
the  habit  of  looking  through  all  sorts  of  books  and  getting 
a  general  impression  of  what  a  book  contains  even  before 
one  studies  the  details  of  the  book. 

i 
THE  DISCOVERY  OF  PROBLEMS 

The  foregoing  paragraph  suggests  a  most  important  phase 
of  the  studying  process.  Students  should  realize  that  one 
of  the  important  interests  in  mental  life  is  the  discovery  of 
problems,  not  merely  the  acceptance  of  answers  to  these 
problems.  Wherever  there  is  a  deficiency  in  the  information 
which  the  student  has,  he  ought  to  be  aware  of  that  defi- 
ciency just  as  much  as  of  the  positive  information  which 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  445 

he  gets.  For  example,  if  a  student  is  reading  in  a  history 
lesson  and  comes  to  the  fact  that  while  the. United  States 
was  passing  through  a  certain  series  of  events  England 
made  such  and  such  a  representation  to  our  government, 
the  question  ought  instantly  to  arise  in  his  mind,  Why  was 
England  interested  in  making  this  representation?  This 
question,  in  turn,  should  raise  in  the  student's  mind  the 
general  question,  What  was  going  on  in  England  at  the 
same  time?  Very  frequently  our  histories  are  one-sided 
because  the  students  do  not  go  beyond  the  statements  in 
the  text  itself.  They  do  not  realize  that  these  statements 
are  only  a  part  of  the  whole  story  of  the  world's  doings  at 
that  time.  Ability  to  formulate  this  additional  question  and, 
in  consequence,  to  see  that  one  needs  fuller  information  is 
the  best  possible  training.  There  is  nothing  so  disastrous 
in  intellectual  life  as  the  attitude  that  one  has  all  the  in- 
formation which  he  needs.  As  pointed  out  in  an  earlier 
chapter  the  scientific  method  has,  as  one  of  its  most  impor- 
tant elements,  the  habit  of  problem  raising  and  problem 
stating.  When  the  chemist  realizes  that  there  is  something 
which  he  does  not  know,  but  which  he  must  find  out  in 
order  to  apply  his  chemistry  to  industry  or  to  later  develop- 
ments of  the  science  itself,  he  has  raised  a  question  which 
makes  possible  fuller  investigations. 

PROBLEMS  DO  NOT  ARISE  ;  THEY  ARE  DISCOVERED 

It  has  been  one  of  the  favorite  themes  of  recent  educa- 
tional writers  to  point  out  that  problems  are  constantly 
arising  in  shop  work  and  in  industrial  life.  There  is  a  cer- 
tain fallacy  in  this  statement.  It  is  true  that  shop  work 
presents  the  possibility  of  certain  problems.  It  is  true  also 
that  in  industry  certain  problems  naturally  arise,  but  it  is 
equally  true,  as  has  been  pointed  out  in  an  earlier  chapter, 
that  in  industry  only  the  leaders  recognize  these  problems. 


446     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

The  ordinary  workman  does  not  see  the  direction  in  which 
his  work  can  be  improved.  He  goes  on  in  the  regular 
routine,  following  the  example  of  his  predecessors  without 
question  and  without  ingenuity  to  make  a  change.  As  soon 
as  one  sees  the  possibility  of  looking  into  every  industrial 
process  and  asking  whether  it  is  as  efficient  as  it  might  be, 
he  starts  on  a  new  line  of  development.  This  new  line  of 
development  is  of  first-class  importance  to  industry,  because 
it  means  that  the  attention  of  the  man  who  has  raised  the 
question  will  be  directed  toward  new  answers  to  the  problem 
that  has  always  existed. 

Exactly  the  same  statement  can  be  made  about  school 
work.  We  go  on  studying  texts  that  do  not  answer  all 
possible  questions  on  the  subject,  simply  because  our  mental 
habits  have  been  chiefly  the  habits  of  accepting  and  follow- 
ing someone  else's  lead.  Students  are,  in  general,  domi- 
nated by  their  teachers  and  by  their  textbooks,  because  these 
contain  a  great  deal  more  information  than  the  student  can 
compass.  The  student  is  carried  forward  in  the  new  fields  of 
authority  so  rapidly  that  he  is  not  stimulated  to  ask  ques- 
tions. He  is  too  busy  trying  to  keep  up  with  the  questions 
that  are  asked  by  his  teachers.  It  would  be  very  much 
better  if  we  could  lead  him  to  see  new  questions.  The 
probabilities  are  that  he  will  not  ask  questions  even  in  his 
shop  work  any  more  than  the  practical  worker  asks  these 
questions  in  the  ordinary  course  of  industry.  Anyone  who 
has  seen  shop  work  in  the  schools  realizes  that  it  does  not 
satisfy  the  expectations  of  those  who  hold  that  shop  work 
stimulates  originality  and  creates  a  need  for  scientific  study 
on  the  part  of  children.  The  fact  is  that  our  educational 
method  must  be*  modified,  with  the  explicit  view  of  giving 
children  an  opportunity  to  create  intellectual  needs  through 
the  questions  which  they  raise.  It  has  long  been  recognized 
in  our  description  of  children's  mental  processes  that  they 
begin  their  school  life  with  a  natural  feeling  of  these  needs. 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  447 

They  ask  questions  with  a  good  deal  of  freedom.  The 
difficulty  is  that  we  do  not  know  how  to  conserve  that  side 
of  the  child's  natural  mental  attitude.  We  answer  these 
questions  in  such  a  way  as  to  seem  to  give  a  final  answer 
to  the  child's  needs,  and  we  do  not  lead  him  to  be  keen 
about  other  possible  questions  of  a  higher  order. 

THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  GROUP  STUDY 

One  of  the  best  ways  to  correct  this  difficulty  is  to  allow 
a  group  of  students  to  study  a  lesson  together  as  indicated 
in  an  earlier  paragraph.  They  will  then  stimulate  each 
other  to  recognize  difficulties  and  questions.  If  the  lesson 
is  recognized  by  the  teacher  and  the  class  as  a  study  les- 
son rather  than  as  a  recitation,  the  students  can  be  made 
aware  of  methods  that  they  ought  to  adopt  in  private 
study.  The  teacher  who  exhibits  skill  in  this  kind  of  an 
exercise  has  done  much  more  for  students  than  merely  to 
train  the  memory. 

There  is  no  doubt  at  all  that  we  are  confronted  here  with 
one  of  the  greatest  educational  problems  —  the  problem  of 
cultivating  the  intellectual  initiative  which  is  necessary  to 
raise  questions,  as  the  first  step  toward  training  students 
in  the  methods  of  getting  answers  to  their  own  questions 
by  the  long  and  difficult  methods  of  self -directed  study.  In 
the  higher  institutions  of  learning  we  call  this  intellectual 
initiative  "  research."  In  the  lower  institutions  we  should 
describe  it  by  saying  that  the  student  ought  to  learn  first 
why  he  is  expected  to  go  to  the  library  or  to  the  laboratory 
or  to  the  shop,  or  to  some  other  source  of  information,  and 
get  a  reply  to  his  question.  The  value  of  an  inquiry  is  very 
often  in  the  appreciation  which  it  brings  of  the  problem 
solved.  Thus  the  sixth-grade  class  which,  in  the  study  of 
geography,  is  led  to  see  the  possibility  of  observing  the 
position  of  the  sun  in  successive  months  is  getting  training 


448     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

in  scientific  research  which  is  of  first-class  importance. 
Such  investigation  through  direct  scientific  experiments  is 
often  by  no  means  the  most  economical  method  of  getting 
an  answer,  though  it  is  often  the  most  vivid  way  of  teach- 
ing both  the  question  and  the  answer.  What  the  student 
often  learns  most  impressively  from  an  experiment  is  that 
others  have  seen  this  problem  before  he  saw  it.  He  will 
then  appreciate  more  fully  the  fact  that  they  worked  on  it 
and  solved  it.  He  will  thus  be  led  to  recognize  more  fully 
the  significance  of  his  ability  to  read,  and  by  reading  secure 
the  help  of  others  who  have  made  scientific  investigations. 
One  notices  in  his  contact  with  teachers  that  there  is 
in  some  quarters  great  respect  for  books,  while  in  other 
quarters,  books  are  regarded  as  of  doubtful  value.  Some 
people  are  so  absorbed  in  their  ambitions  to  secure  scien- 
tific work  from  the  children  that  they  regard  it,  on  the 
whole,  as  very  damaging  to  children  that  they  should  be 
brought  in  contact  with  books.  The  better  attitude  in 
these  matters  is  for  the  teacher  to  recognize  that  there  are 
several  different  methods  of  getting  solutions  to  questions. 
The  book  method  of  getting  a  solution  is  a  complex  method 
which  gives  mental  training,  but  it  is  a  different  method 
from  that  which  the  scientific  investigator  follows  when  he 
gets  a  solution  through  experimentation.  Social  discussion 
is  still  another  method  which  can  be  employed.  Whichever 
method  is  being  used,  the  student  should  be  trained  not 
only  to  master  this  or  that  mode  of  procedure  for  getting 
his  answers  but,  above  all,  to  know  how  to  formulate  ques- 
tions, and  then  to  recognize  the  use  of  each  of  the  methods 
of  getting  answers  and  the  legitimacy  now  of  one  method 
and  now  of  another. 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  449 

TRAINING  IN  ECONOMICAL  METHODS  OF  STUDY 

Another  important  matter  in  teaching  students  to  study 
is  to  show  them  that  there  are  certain  principles  of  intel- 
lectual economy  which  ought  constantly  to  be  considered. 
Thus,  it  is  a  very  bad  investment  of  time  to  do  over  and 
over  again  in  a  superficial  way  a  task  which  could  be  mas- 
tered, once  for  all,  by  giving  a  little  more  time  to  it  than 
one  naturally  gives.  One  of  the  best  arguments  in  favor 
of  economy  is  to  be  found  in  the  case  of  a  student  who 
wastes  his  time  by  looking  up  a  word  in  a  vocabulary 
every  time  he  finds  it  in  the  text.  Thus,  in  translating  a 
Latin  passage  a  student  comes  to  a  certain  word.  He 
turns  to  the  vocabulary  and  finds  that  there  are  fifteen  or 
twenty  meanings  given  for  this  word.  He  runs  his  eye 
down  the  list  of  meanings  and  carefully  selects  the  one 
that  will  serve  his  purpose.  He  tries  to  overlook  the  other 
meanings  because  they  do  not  serve  his  purpose  at  the 
present  moment.  From  one  point  of  view  this  seems  to 
be  economical.  One  is  trying  to  translate  a  given  passage, 
and  to  stop  and  consider  the  meaning  of  a  word  in  general 
will  be  distracting.  Furthermore,  our  textbook  vocabula- 
ries are  frequently  so  made  up  that  a  student  would  be 
quite  unable  to  get  at  the  general  meaning  of  the  word 
by  reading  over  the  full  statement  given.  Even  the  worst 
vocabulary  that  has  ever  been  constructed  would,  however, 
if  properly  looked  at,  give  some  clue  to  the  general  mean- 
ing of  the  word,  and  offer  some  suggestions  as  to  the 
reason  why  all  of  these  different  meanings  are  attached  to 
the  single  root.  If  the  student  would  stop,  therefore,  and 
read  over  the  list  of  words  in  the  vocabulary  with  a  view 
not  merely  to  selecting  the  particular  meaning  which  he 
needs  for  the  given  passage  but  also  with  the  view  to 
recognizing  the  general  character  of  the  word ;  if  he  would 
pay  enough  attention  to  the  word  itself  so  as  to  form  its 


450     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

acquaintance  and  prepare  for  later  uses  of  the  word,  he 
would,  by  a  small  expenditure  of  additional  time,  effect  a 
genuine  economy  in  the  long  run.  Somebody  ought  to  per- 
suade the  student  of  Latin  at  the  outset  that  he  is  going  to 
take  the  course  for  a  whole  year,  and  that  an  investment 
of  time  to-day  which  will  economize  his  time  all  through 
the  year  is  well  worth  his  consideration. 

ANTICIPATION  OF  APPLICATIONS 

This  looking  forward  into  the  future  and  trying  to  see 
all  of  the  different  applications,  of  a  present  mental  act  is  an 
attitude  which  students  do  not  often  cultivate.  In  geom- 
etry, for  example,  it  would  be  well  to  ask  a  student  while 
he  is  working  on  the  relation  between  triangles  to  look  for- 
ward himself,  and  to  consider  what  advantage  this  part  of 
the  study  will  be  to  him  in  further  study  of  geometry.  Are 
the  principles  which  he  is  taking  up  at  this  time  likely  to 
turn  up  in  later  combinations  ?  If  so,  what  kind  of  combi- 
nations could  one  expect  ?  To  make  each  individual  lesson 
an  introduction  to  the  rest  of  the  subject  is  worthy  of  the 
explicit  attention  of  teachers.  Not  only  should  the  learner 
in  this  way  try  to  make  a  subject  apply  to  the  later  stages 
of  the  same  study,  but  one  may  well  expend  time  in  calling 
attention  to  the  possible  applications  of  a  given  subject  to 
other  phases  of  life  which  are  more  remote.  Undoubtedly 
our  method  of  subdividing  and  sharply  separating  subjects 
has  made  this  looking  for  applications  a  relatively  unusual 
type  of  the  work  of  the  school.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that 
very  few  teachers,  to  say  nothing  of  students,  are  trained 
to  look  for  the  applications  of  their  subjects.  If  one  is 
studying  history,  he  ought  to  be  interested  not  only  in  the 
event  which  is  now  under  examination,  but  he  ought  to 
look  forward  to  some  of  the  probable  implications  of  the 
events.  To  ask  what  is  likely  to  come  from  the  combination 


451 

of  events  which  one  encounters  in  to-day's  history  lesson 
is  to  make  an  entirely  legitimate  historical  study  and  is 
practically  suggestive,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  our  esti- 
mate of  the  future  is  always  based  on  our  own  analysis 
of  present  situations.  Historical  studies  might  serve,  there- 
fore, to  cultivate  the  power  of  looking  critically  into  the 
future,  which  will  be  of  very  great  importance  to  students. 
This  kind  of  application  of  history  to  present  needs  does 
not  mean  that  we  merely  try  to  explain  the  present  by 
history,  but  we  try  to  cultivate  in  the  student  some  recog- 
nition of  the  complexities  which  confront  all  of  our  execu- 
tive officers  in  the  government.  For  example,  if  one  sees 
the  difficulty  of  telling  the  consequences  of  the  French 
Revolution  as  a  purely  historical  problem,  one  will  recog- 
nize immediately  how  difficult  it  is  for  the  present-day 
legislators  to  see  the  possibilities  which  may  grow  out  of  a 
given  piece  of  legislation.  If  it  is  difficult  to  tell  how  far  a 
nation  is  to  be  plunged  into  conflicts  through  a  single  nego- 
tiation, then  we  can  be  prepared,  in  dealing  with  our  own 
current  events,  to  recognize  that  any  act  of  our  government 
is  likely  to  be  of  far-reaching  consequences. 

In  the  same  way,  one  may  use  other  examples.  Suppose 
that  when  studying  a  series  of  principles  in  algebra  the 
student  is  called  upon  to  find  some  use  to  which  the  prin- 
ciples may  be  put.  These  uses  need  not  be  applications 
to  commercial  life  and  business  life.  The  assumption  that 
application  of  a  subject  always  means  a  turning  of  it  into 
business  or  into  constructive  activity  is,  as  was  pointed  out 
in  an  earlier  chapter,  a  limited  notion  of  what  is  meant  by 
application.  One  ought  to  realize  that  algebra  is  an  instru- 
ment for  the  solution  of  problems  in  the  sciences.  The 
student  has  a  right  not  only  to  the  general  statement  that 
mathematics  is  necessary  for  the  solution  of  scientific  prob- 
lems ;  he  ought  to  be  encouraged  in  the  algebra  class  itself 
to  look  for  possible  uses  that  can  be  made  of  the  principles 


452    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

of  algebra.  There  is  no  better  exercise  in  any  course  than  to 
encourage  the  student  to  prepare  in  a  large  way  for  future 
uses  of  the  present  lesson.  Students  should  be  taught  to 
do  this  with  a  full  recognition  of  the  intellectual  economy 
which  they  are  thus  securing. 

STUDENTS  PROFIT  BY  USE  OF  STANDARDS 

One  of  the  methods  which  is  of  great  importance  in 
training  students  to  study  is  the  method  of  giving  the 
student  some  standards  which  will  help  him  judge  of  the 
success  of  his  own  work.  S.  A.  Courtis,1  in  discussing  his 
arithmetic  tests,  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  these  tests 
are  of  value  to  the  individual  student  because  one  can  train 
the  student  himself  to  judge  of  his  ability  as  compared  with 
his  own  past  achievements  and  as  compared  with  the  legiti- 
mate expectations  to  be  imposed  on  people  in  his  class.  If, 
for  example,  the  student  knows  that  the  other  members  of 
a  certain  class  can,  on  the  average,  complete  a  certain  series 
of  addition  exercises  in  twenty  seconds,  he  has  a  standard 
which  he  can  utilize  in  his  own  practice.  He  can  try  to  do 
this  exercise  in  twenty  seconds.  If  he  succeeds  in  doing  it 
at  this  rate,  he  knows  that  he  has  come  up  to  the  sixth- 
grade  standard.  Furthermore,  he  can  be  told  that  this  is 
the  standard  required  in  business.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  takes  him  forty  seconds,  he  knows  that  he  must  drill 
himself  more  or  he  will  be  rated  as  backward.  Further- 
more, if  he  records  the  time  which  he  requires  every  time 
he  performs  exercises  of  addition  or  other  processes,  he 
will  be  able  to  watch  his  own  improvement.  There  is  noth- 
ing so  stimulating  to  a  student  as  to  see  the  rate  at  which 
he  is  improving.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  nothing 

1  "  The  Courtis  Test  in  Arithmetic,"  Report  of  the  Committee  on 
School  Inquiry  of  New  York  City  (Part  II,  Subdivision  I,  Section  D), 
Vol.  I,  p.  489. 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  453 

so  discouraging  to  a  student  as  to  be  unable  to  determine 
whether  he  is  making  intellectual  progress  or  not.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  many  a  student  becomes  discouraged 
in  his  class  work ;  he  does  not  know  whether  he  has  a  right 
answer  or  not,  and  is  therefore  greatly  disadvantaged  as 
contrasted  with  the  student  who  has  some  method  of 
checking  up  his  results. 

In  a  recent  number  of  the  Elementary  School  Teacher1 
a  clever  device  was  described  by  J.  W.  Graham  for  show- 
ing grade  pupils  whether  they  can  add  rapidly  or  not  by 
asking  them  to  add  at  the  rate  at  which  a  pendulum  swings. 
The  pendulum  is  gradually  shortened  until  the  limit  of 
speed  is  reached.  The  student  knows  from  the  length  of 
the  pendulum  what  degree  of  success  he  has  attained  in 
the  adding  process. 

THE  VALUE  OF  STANDARDS  IN  SELF-ADJUSTMENT 

It  is  fairly  easy  in  such  subjects  as  arithmetic  to  give  the 
student  some  kind  of  a  standard  which  he  himself  can  adopt 
and  follow.  It  is  of  course  by  no  means  as  easy  to  give 
him  similar  standards  in  some  other  subjects ;  but  he  ought 
to  be  made  aware  of  the  meaning  of  standards.  One  device 
that  can  be  adopted  is  to  ask  the  student  to  rate  himself  in 
the  degree  of  preparation  which  he  has  on  a  given  subject. 
Get  him,  in  the  case  of  an  examination,  to  tell  how  well 
he  thinks  he  did  his  work,  and  help  him  check  up  his  judg- 
ment by  showing  him  how  little  this  judgment  comports 
with  the  actual  results  of  his  work  as  judged  in  the  light 
of  the  work  of  the  class  as  a  whole.  Call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  estimate  which  the  student  has  of  his  own 
work  differs  from  the  estimate  which  he  ought  to  have 
because  he  does  not  know  how  well  others  do  their  work. 
Show  him  that  comparative  standards  are  significant  in 
i  Vol.  XIV  (1914),  p.  348. 


454    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

estimating  one's  own  value  in  the  commercial  world  or  in 
the  world  of  intellectual  achievement.  A  student  should 
know  about  how  long  he  ought  to  spend  in  the  preparation 
of  a  lesson.  Individual  differences  must  of  course  be 
taken  into  account,  but  it  is  important  that  the  student 
should  come  to  recognize  some  of  his  own  peculiarities. 
If  a  student  is  a  slow  reader,  he  ought  first  to  realize  the 
possibility  of  improving  the  rate  of  his  reading ;  and,  in  the 
second  place,  he  ought  to  realize  that  it  is  going  to  cost  him 
more  time  than  it  costs  some  other  members  of  the  class 
to  get  up  his  work.  In  spite  of  his  individual  peculiarities 
he  ought  never  to  be  allowed  to  assume  that  his  mental 
efficiency  is  satisfactory  if  he  requires  an  indefinite  length 
of  time  for  the  execution  of  a  certain  task.  The  teacher 
ought  to  know  the  time  and  effort  required  to  master  every 
assignment,  and  ought  to  be  able  to  say  to  the  class  that  the 
rapid  members  are  expected  to  get  the  lesson  in  a  half  hour, 
the  slower  members  certainly  inside  of  an  hour  and  a  half. 
If  our  educational  work  were  thus  standardized,  it  would 
be  a  very  great  advantage  to  both  students  and  teachers. 
There  would  be  no  evasions  between  students  and  teacher 
with  regard  to  the  amount  of  effort  that  the  students  need 
to  expend.  There  would  be  very  much  greater  certainty  in 
our  definition  of  standards  of  institutions.  At  the  present 
moment  we  turn  a  student  loose  on  a  certain  section  of  a 
course  and  ask  him  to  get  it  ready.  The  sections  which  we 
assign  from  day  to  day  are  very  rough  divisions,  given  out 
without  exact  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  as  to  the 
amount  of  effort  which  is' required  on  the  part  of  the  student. 

PROGRESSION  A  TEST  OF  EFFECTIVE  TRAINING 

Finally,  the  student  ought  to  realize  that  the  best  check 
of  his  own  work  is  his  ability  to  go  on  with  the  next  line 
of  work.  He  ought  to  realize  that  the  natural  penalty  of 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  455 

failure  at  one  point  is  increased  difficulty  in  the  next 
stages  of  the  course.  In  order  to  make  him  distinctly  aware 
of  this  relationship  between  different  parts  of  the  course, 
it  will  be  necessary  for  us,  first  of  all,  to  reorganize  our 
education  material  in  such  a  way  that  there  shall  be  real  pro- 
gression in  intellectual  demands  made  upon  the  student. 

Our  discussion  of  standards  for  the  student,  therefore, 
leads  us  back  to  the  problem  of  standardizing  and  system- 
atizing our  various  courses.  Heretofore  our  courses  have 
been  systematized  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  subject 
matter  to  be  covered.  Some  courses  have  also,  in  a  rough, 
general  way,  been  systematized  with  reference  to  the  dif- 
ficulties of  intellectual  problems  presented.  It  is  assumed 
that  the  course  grows  more  and  more  difficult  as  one  goes 
forward  to  the  higher  stages  of  the  subject.  There  is  cer- 
tainly no  consistent  development  of  this  ideal  type  in  many 
of  the  subjects  of  the  curriculum.  For  example,  in  an 
earlier  chapter  attention  was  called  to  a  conspicuous  illus- 
tration of  the  lack  of  development  in  intellectual  demands 
found  in  the  courses  in  history.  Often  hard  courses  are 
purposely  put  near  the  beginning  of  the  school  work.  For 
example,  we  very  frequently  have  evidence  that  the  algebra 
course  in  the  first  year  is  one  of  the  most  severe  courses  in 
the  whole  curriculum  of  the  high  school.  The  first  science 
course  which  is  given  in  a  department  is  very  frequently 
much  more  severe  than  the  later  courses  in  the  same  subject. 
Educational  institutions  very  frequently  point  out  the  fact 
that  the  difficult  courses  at  the  beginning  are  intended  to 
weed  out  the  poor  students.  In  the  work  in  home  econom- 
ics, for  example,  it  has  frequently  been  the  case  that  a 
severe  course  in  scientific  chemistry  precedes  a  number  of 
very  easy  courses  in  the  practical  art  of  cooking. 

This  failure  to  give  a  student  any  progressive  series 
of  requirements  in  the  different  subjects  is  a  mistake  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  student's  own  intellectual  habits. 


456     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

Having  mastered  a  given  subject,  the  student  feels  the  need 
of  a  progression  of  some  sort  in  his  own  intellectual  life, 
and  the  school  ought  to  give  him  this  satisfaction  and  also 
this  test  of  his  own  earlier  work. 


TRADITIONAL  COURSES  EMPHASIZE  PROGRESSION 

Latin  and  some  of  the  other  traditional  subjects  are 
undoubtedly  in  excellent  form  in  just  this  respect  and  are 
better  organized  than  the  scientific  or  historical  subjects. 
Furthermore,  the  nature  of  language  development  is  such 
that  accumulation  of  training  comes  as  a  necessary  result 
of  larger  contact  with  the  words  and  constructions  which  go 
to  make  up  the  language.  If  one  has  read  a  certain  amount 
of  Latin,  he  finds  that  it  is  easier  for  him  to  read  the  next 
Latin  passage  to  which  he  comes.  The  acquisition  of  facility 
in  reading  Latin  is  thus  a  kind  of  natural  indication  to  the 
student  of  his  progress  in  the  subject. 


The  reorganization  of  all  of  our  courses  with  this  prin- 
ciple in  mind  will  be  worked  out  when  teachers  see  the  im- 
portance of  making  a  definite  catalogue  of  the  intellectual 
processes  which  students  cultivate.  For  example,  suppose 
the  history  course  could  be  organized  in  such  a  way  that 
the  demand  made  upon  students  in  the  earlier  years  of  the 
history  course  were,  first  of  all,  for  ability  to  comprehend 
a  coherent  narrative  of  successive  events.  Suppose  that  at 
this  stage  we  did  not  demand  any  very  large  explanation 
of  the  events  studied.  Suppose  that  at  the  second  stage  of 
his  study  we  asked  the  student  not  only  to  understand  the 
history  that  he  is  studying,  but  also  to  understand  the  physi- 
cal facts  which  influence  history,  making  at  this  stage  of 
the  course  a  correlation  between  history  and  geography. 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  457 

This  would  demand  a  power  of  comparison  and  associative 
thinking.  Suppose  that  in  the  third  stage  we  asked  for  a 
mastery  of  evidences  upon  which  history  is  based ;  that  is, 
a  critical  evaluation  of  the  original  sources.  Suppose  finally, 
at  the  last  stage  of  historical  discussion,  we  asked  the  student 
to  make  a  critical  comparison  of  the  different  authorities 
who  have  attempted  to  interpret  a  given  period.  Whether 
the  historian  would  agree  that  this  is  the  best  order  in  which 
historical  methods  are  to  be  taught  or  not,  the  example  at 
least  serves  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  tnat  there  is  a  possi- 
ble progression  of  intellectual  demands  within  the  course. 
The  present  tendency  in  history  is  for  the  most  elementary 
student  to  be  brought  in  contact  with  all  of  the  possible 
modes  of  historical  interpretation.  Thus  a  teacher  who  has 
studied  history  through  original  sources,  and  who  has  seen 
the  geographical  correlation  of  history,  assumes  that  all  the 
different  mental  processes  which  are  involved  in  the  study 
of  history  can  be  aroused  in  the  beginner.  He  starts  out, 
therefore,  to  give  the  most  complex  reasoning  about  his- 
torical events  to  the  elementary  student.  The  elementary 
student  becomes  confused  and  is  satisfied  to  get  half  of  his 
lesson,  never  developing  any  standard  of  completeness ;  and 
the  teacher  is  satisfied  with  a  partial  achievement  on  the 
part  of  the  student  because  he  recognizes  that  there  are 
some  aspects  of  the  situation  which  are  evidently  too  com- 
plicated for  the  student.  The  difficulty  in  this  case  is  that 
the  teacher  has  not  analyzed  the  ability  of  the  student,  and 
has  not  developed  in  his  own  mind  any  notion  of  real  pro- 
gression which  would  make  it  possible  to  test  the  student's 
achievements  in  the  first  part  of  his  course  by  ability  to  go 
on  in  the  later  parts  of  the  work. 


458     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

SCIENCE  COURSES  LACK  PROGRESSION 

The  difficulty  which  has  just  been  pointed  out  in  history 
is  also  one  of  the  conspicuous  difficulties  in  the  organization 
of  science  work  in  the  schools.  A  student  studies  a  little 
botany  or  a  little  physiography  in  the  earlier  part  of  his 
course.  He  is  then  transferred  to  a  physics  course  or  a 
course  in  general  biology,  and  he  begins  all  over  again  with 
very  simple  problems  and  very  simple  methods  of  scientific 
investigation.  His  first  science  course  goes  forward  rapidly 
from  simple  problems  to  complex  problems.  His  second 
science  course  begins  as  though  nothing  had  ever  been  done 
to  train  him  in  scientific  methods.  Indeed,  the  organization 
of  our  schools  is  such  that  we  frequently  mix  classes,  putting 
in  the  second  science  course  a  number  of  students  who  have 
never  had  any  of  the  earlier  work,  so  that  it  is  quite  impossi- 
ble in  this  second  class  to  do  anything  except  begin  at  the 
early  rudiments  of  the  science,  while  in  the  same  course  are 
students  who  have  done  several  courses  in  related  subjects. 
Thus,  science  courses  are  very  frequently  badly  arranged  or 
not  arranged  at  all,  and  the  student  gets  only  a  vague  gen- 
eral impression  of  scientific  method  and  its  application  to  the 
problems  in  the  particular  field.  In  each  of  these  sciences  it 
is  the  subject  matter  which  has  been  the  dominant  interest. 
The  student  has  never  been  shown  that  there  are  different 
degrees  of  complexity  in  reasoning.  He  realizes  very  slowly, 
if  at  all,  that  the  first  stage  of  a  science  is  to  collect  a  few 
simple  facts  with  a  certain  degree  of  accuracy.  The  second 
stage  of  science  is  to  try  and  develop  some  sort  of  a  general 
principle,  utilizing  in  support  of  this  general  principle  the 
observations  which  one  has  made.  The  third  stage  is  veri- 
fication ;  and  so  on.  What  is  needed  is  a  careful  analysis 
of  the  mental  processes  which  represent  progress  within 
the  science.  What  we  need  is  a  list  of  all  of  the  different 
kinds  of  mental  activities  that  students  are  called  upon 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  459 

to  go  through  in  each  of  the  sciences  and  in  each  of  the 
humanities.  We  should  realize,  for  example,  that  there  is 
always  some  memory  work,  and  that  this  memory  work  is 
essential  to  comparison  and  reason,  which  come  later  in  the 
subject.  Furthermore,  the  student  should  realize  as  well  as 
the  teacher  that  there  is  sequence  from  memory  to  reason. 

TRADITIONAL  SUBJECTS  CAPABLE  OF  GREATER 
PROGRESSION 

Other  examples  of  the  same  fundamental  requirements 
can  be  presented  if  one  comes  to  a  criticism  of  Latin  and 
German,  which  were  described  a  few  minutes  ago  as  having 
a  sort  of  natural  progressiveness.  The  student  of  Latin 
is  undoubtedly  a  good  deal  confused  by  his  transfer  from 
Csesar  to  Cicero.  He  recognizes  Cicero  as  one  of  the  higher 
courses  in  the  high-school  curriculum,  but  just  why  Cicero 
is  more  advanced  than  Csesar  is  difficult  to  make  clear  to 
a  student.  Finally,  when  the  transfer  comes  from  Cicero 
to  Virgil  the  student  becomes  aware  of  the  added  body  of 
material  which  he  gets  in  the  principles  of  scansion,  but  it 
is  not  at  all  clear  that  the  Latin  itself  requires  any  true 
progress  on  his  part. 

Suppose  that  the  Latin  teacher  should  make  a  radical 
distinction  between  the  work  in  Caesar  and  Cicero  in  some 
such  terms  as  these :  The  class  has  been  reading  Caesar. 
Now  for  some  time,  as  we  turn  to  Cicero,  there  will  no 
longer  be  any  requirement  for  detailed  translation.  It  is 
assumed  that  the  class  can  now  read  Latin  in  the  original 
and  can  understand  it  without  translation.  Therefore  in 
Cicero  we  shall  call  upon  members  of  the  class  to  read 
with  expression  the  Latin  text  and  to  answer  directly, 
in  Latin,  questions  about  the  text.  This  would  constitute 
a  real  step  in  advance,  a  real  progressive  demand  upon 
the  student.  The  student  would  now  recognize  that  his 


460     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

work  in  Caesar  is  going  to  be  tested  by  the  demand  that  he 
use  the  original  language  itself. 

Suppose  that  the  same  sort  of  requirement  were  imposed 
upon  the  student  in  German.  We  might  say  the  simplest 
stage  of  German  is  that  stage  in  which  the  student  learns 
by  translation.  A  later  stage  in  German  would  be  the  stage 
in  which  the  translation  can  be  dropped.  In  setting  forth 
this  example  one  becomes  immediately  aware  of  the  fact 
that  the  language  teachers  themselves  have  never  agreed 
as  to  the  relative  difficulties  of  understanding  a  language 
through  translation  and  through  the  use  of  spoken  language 
itself  without  translation.  Students  of  the  direct  method 
in  German,  for  example,  assume  that  oral  expression  in 
the  language  itself  is  the  first  stage.  Translation  for  them 
would  be  a  later  study  of  a  more  complex  type,  since  it 
would  involve  the  comparison  of  German  with  English. 
On  the  other  hand,  Latin  teachers  have  assumed  that  trans- 
lation is  a  relatively  simple  mental  process  and  that  the 
mastery  of  Latin  without  translation  would  be  a  somewhat 
more  complex  form  of  mental  activity.  Perhaps,  as  pointed 
out  in  an  earlier  chapter,  there  are  conditions  under  which 
each  of  these  assumptions  may  be  regarded  as  true.  If  we 
teach  simple  idiomatic  phrases  by  the  oral  method,  prob- 
ably the  use  of  the  foreign  language  is  somewhat  simpler 
than  translation.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  study  a  lan- 
guage, analytically  getting  at  the  notion  of  its  structure 
before  we  try  to  make  use  of  the  language,  perhaps  trans- 
lation is  the  simpler  process.  In  either  case  the  student 
should  be  required  to  progress. 

SUBJECT  MATTER  LESS  IMPORTANT  THAN  PROGRESSION 

The  degree  of  complexity  of  the  mental  process  would 
therefore  depend  upon  the  methods  of  procedure  within  the 
subject  itself  and  upon  the  aims  of  instruction.  It  might  not 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO -STUDY  461 

be  possible  to  say  that  a  certain  mental  process  taken  out 
of  the  context  is  in  itself  more  or  less  complex  than  some 
other  mental  process,  but  the  teacher,  and  also  the  student, 
should  be  made  aware  of  the  fact  that  within  each  method 
of  instruction  there  is  the  possibility  of  creating  for  the  stu- 
dent progressive  demands  which  shall  carry  him  within  that 
subject  to  more  and  more  complex  forms  of  mental  life. 

Progression  within  the  subject  is  the  only  solution  of  the 
educational  problem.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  many  teachers 
are  satisfied  with  a  wider  range  of  information  as  the  only 
demand  imposed  in  the  later  stages  of  a  given  subject. 
They  give  more  and  more  of  the  same  sort  of  work  in  the 
later  stages  of  a  course  without  recognizing  that  more  and 
more  material  of  the  same  type  and  degree  of  difficulty  will 
not  constitute  real  educational  progress.  If  the  teachers  in 
any  given  field  would  canvass  their  own  subjects  with  a 
view  to  determining  what  is  the  demand  at  the  later  stages 
of  a  course,  as  distinguished  from  the  demand  at  the  earlier 
stages,  we  should  have  a  series  of  discussions  of  the  differ- 
ent school  subjects  that  would  be  of  first-class  importance 
to  the  science  of  psychology  as  well  as  to  the  methodology 
of  the  subject  itself. 

ORGANIZING  A  STUDY  PROGRAM 

There  are  certain  external  devices  for  securing  economy 
and  efficiency  in  the  work  of  students  which  depend  upon 
the  general  principle  that  organization  of  one's  work  is 
always  more  economical  than  unsystematic  effort,  however 
earnest.  One  finds  that  the  ordinary  high-school  student 
has  no  regular  plan  of  attack  upon  the  subjects  which  he 
has  to  study.  He  goes  home  at  night  with  four  or  five 
assignments,  and  the  order  in  which  he  takes  up  these 
assignments  is  a  matter  of  pure  accident.  Sometimes  a 
student  begins  with  the  subject  which  he  likes  best;  at 


462     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

other  times  he  begins  with  the  subject  that  he  knows  will 
be  most  vigorously  followed  up  in  the  recitations  of  the 
next  day.  Furthermore,  the  very  fact  that  he  has  no  regu- 
lar order  of  procedure  becomes  itself  a  distraction,  because 
as  soon  as  he  begins  the  study  of  one  subject  he  will  think 
of  the  other  subjects  which  he  might  be  taking  up. 

There  are  two  ways  of  meeting  these  general  difficulties. 
The  first  is  for  the  student  to  have  a  regular  program  for 
his  own  work.  Such  a  regular  program  as  this  is  very 
difficult  to  maintain  unless  there  is  cooperation  between 
the  student  and  the  teachers  who  have  his  assignments  in 
charge.  If  the  student  sets  aside  a  certain  amount  of  time 
each  day  or  a  certain  sequence  of  studies  for  his  work,  it  is 
likely  that  the  assignments  will  not  balance  in  such  a  way 
as  to  make  the  most  economical  use  of  his  time.  Still,  he 
will  gain  something  by  regularity  of  habits,  even  if  his  pro- 
gram of  study  is  a  purely  individual  affair.  An  interesting 
report  has  been  made  by  W.  C.  Reavis,1  who  organized  the 
high  school  of  which  he  had  charge  on  this  plan  of  full 
individual  programs  for  students.  Not  only  were  the  study 
hours  that  occurred  during  the  school  itself  assigned  to 
various  topics,  but  the  students  were  induced  also  to  fill 
up  the  hours  which  they  spent  at  home  with  a  regular  pro- 
gram. The  result  of  this  organization  of  the  students'  work 
was  a  decided  improvement  in  the  quality  and  quantity  of 
work  carried  by  the  students  in  that  school. 

Another  general  device  which  commends  itself  as  having 
certain  advantages  over  the  organization  of  individual  pro- 
grams by  the  students  is  the  organization  of  the  general 
program  of  the  school  in  such  a  way  that  the  selection  of 
the  study  which  shall  be  treated  as  most  important  from 
day  to  day  shall  be  determined  by  a  plan  arranged  by  the 
faculty.  Thus  the  work  of  Monday  should  be  organized  in 

lffThe  Importance  of  a  Study-Program  for  High  School  Pupils," 
School  Review,  1911,  Vol.  XIX,  pp.  398-405. 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  463 

all  classes  with  a  view  to  allowing  science  to  have  more 
time  and  attention  from  the  students  than  any  other  sub- 
ject. Tuesday  might  be  devoted  to  mathematics ;  Wednes- 
day to  history;  and  so  on  through  the  week.  This  would 
give  the  whole  school  a  certain  definite  arrangement  of  its 
work,  and  would  prepare  students  to  lay  emphasis  upon  the 
different  subjects  in  rotation.  Such  a  plan  as  this  would  re- 
quire some  consultation  among  the  members  of  the  faculty 
as  to  the  length  of  assignments,  and  would  undoubtedly 
be  advantageous  from  that  point  of  view  also.  It  would 
relieve  the  students  of  the  necessity  of  determining  each 
time  just  the  order  in  which  they  ought  to  do  their  work. 
They  would  realize  that  they  must  prepare  the  assignment 
in  the  subject  that  has  the  right  of  way,  whatever  the  fate 
of  the  other  subjects. 

SELECTING  ESSENTIALS 

The  principle  of  organization  which  has  been  illustrated 
in  the  last  paragraph  should  reach  not  only  to  the  general 
program  of  the  students,  but  should  reach  into  each  indi- 
vidual subject.  The  material  which  is  presented  in  the  text- 
book and  the  class  exercise  is  of  course  arranged  with  some 
deference  to  the  sequence  of  ideas  in  the  subject  matter. 
There  are  undoubtedly  in  every  lesson  certain  cardinal 
points  which  the  teacher  is  able  to  bring  out  in  the  recita- 
tion, and  ought  to  impress  upon  the  students  as  of  more 
significance  than  other  points  in  the  lesson.  The  difficulty 
is  in  training  students  to  select  these  important  points,  and 
to  realize  that  they  are  the  essential  elements  of  the  lesson. 
Most  students  read  with  laborious  minuteness  everything 
set  down  in  the  assignment,  and  the  lesson  is  not  organized 
in  their  experience  around  central  ideas.  Their  ideas  consist 
merely  in  a  train  of  sentences,  all  of  which  are  evaluated  as 
though  they  were  of  the  same  intellectual  importance.  To 


464    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

correct  this  monotonous  emphasis  on  everything,  each  class 
exercise  should  at  some  time  in  the  recitation  be  summarized 
in  a  general  way.  Some  student  should  be  asked,  either  at 
the  beginning  or  at  the  end  of  the  lesson,  to  present  the 
three  or  four  major  lines  of  discussion  which  are  at  the 
center  of  the  assignment.  Very  frequently  the  assignment 
of  the  lesson  can  very  advantageously  be  made  in  terms 
which  shall  point  out  these  major  items.  In  this  way  stu- 
dents will  get  into  the  habit  of  summarizing  all  bodies  of 
material  which  come  to  them  in  the  course  of  an  hour. 
They  will  thus  be  prepared  to  take  notes  better,  because 
they  will  learn  how  to  select  from  the  material  which  is 
given  to  them  those  items  which  constitute  the  key  to 
each  one  of  the  phases  of  the  discussion. 

ELABORATING  A  THEME 

The  necessary  complement  of  the  selection  of  the  most 
important  point  is  the  cultivation  of  the  ability  to  elabo- 
rate each  point.  Many  students  are  able  to  give  in  very 
brief  form  a  certain  statement  which  is  one  of  the  impor- 
tant statements  in  the  lesson,  but  they  are  utterly  at  a 
loss  to  take  up  that  statement  and  illustrate  it  and  elabo- 
rate it  as  the  author  of  the  textbook  or  the  lecturer  has 
elaborated  the  item.  In  our  discussion  of  the  methods  of 
teaching  English,  attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  most 
students  in  American  schools  are  quite  unable  to  give  any 
lengthy  discussion  of  topics.  One  of  the  exercises  which 
would  be  of  great  advantage  in  every  subject  is  that  which 
would  grow  out  of  the  requirement  that  students  take  an 
important  point  in  the  lesson  and  write  three  or  four  pages 
on  this  point.  Students  would  gain  through  such  an  exer- 
cise a  much  keener  appreciation  of  the  paragraphs  in  the 
textbook.  Every  author  who  has  elaborated  an  idea  in  a 
textbook  has  had  some  reason  for  adding  supplementary 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  465 

and  secondary  illustrations  to  the  main  idea  which  he  is 
discussing.  These  accessory  ideas  are  just  as  necessary  to 
the  explanation  of  the  main  idea  and  to  the  development 
of  connections  with  other  ideas  as  is  the  bald  statement  of 
the  principle  itself.  Students  should  learn  how  to  connect 
ideas  and  illustrate  them.  They  should  be  able  to  take  up 
any  major  principle  and  find  interesting  points  of  connec- 
tion between  that  major  principle  .and  other  information, 
especially  information  collected  in  other  courses.  A  good 
deal  has  been  said  in  pedagogical  literature  about  the  im- 
portance of  selecting  the  major  idea,  and  certainly  the 
comments  which  have  been  made  along  this  line  are  all  of 
them  justified,  but  relatively  little  has  been  said  about  the 
necessity  of  elaborating  major  ideas  as  indicated  in  the 
foregoing  sentences. 

TRAINING  IN  GENERALIZATION 

When  students  have  gained  some  knowledge  of  a  sub- 
ject through  a  few  exercises,  it  is  very  important  that  they 
should  be  trained  in  generalizing  this  knowledge.  Em- 
phasis was  laid  on  this  point  in  the  chapter  on  science 
teaching  and  also  in  the  chapter  on  formal  discipline.  It  is 
in  place  at  this  point  to  indicate  some  of  the  methods  of 
generalization  which  can  advantageously  be  employed  in 
the  classroom  and  in  the  student's  own  mental  procedure. 

ANTICIPATING  THE  FUTURE 

In  the  first  place,  as  suggested  above,  the  student  ought 
to  try  to  look  forward  in  the  subject  itself  and  anticipate 
the  later  problems  which  are  to  come  up. 


466     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

REVIEWS 

Further  than  this,  generalization  of  experience  can  be 
cultivated  through  frequent  reviews.  Indeed,  the  student 
and  the  teacher  ought  to  realize  that  the  function  of  a  re- 
view is  to  crystallize  earlier  studies  in  more  comprehensive 
forms  than  were  possible  while  the  subjects  were  being 
studied  in  detail.  The  student  who  gets  an  impression 
that  a  review  just  before  an  examination  means  a  hasty 
running  over  of  all  of  the  material  which  has  been  covered 
in  the  course  will  not  gain  from  the  review  the  advantage 
which  he  ought  to  secure.  He  ought  to  realize  that,  having 
learned  the  subject  in  its  details,  he  is  now  in  a  position 
to  take  a  more  general  view  of  the  whole  subject.  Princi- 
ples too  broad  to  be  included  in  a  single  exercise  ought 
now  to  be  the  subjects  of  his  thought.  After  he  has  studied 
a  certain  period  of  history,  for  example,  he  ought  to  be 
able  to  characterize  the  whole  of  that  period.  This  is  a 
period  during  which  military  operations  were  the  most  sig- 
nificant public  activities ;  this  is  a  period  during  which  the 
internal  operations  of  the  state  were  of  more  significance 
than  any  outside  relations ;  this  was  a  period  during  which 
the  country  prospered  financially  and  commercially ;  and 
so  on.  None  of  these  general  statements  would  be  signifi- 
cant to  a  student,  if  made  at  the  beginning  of  the  study,  in 
any  such  degree  as  they  ought  to  be  after  he  has  canvassed 
in  detail  the  military  or  commercial  enterprises  which  are 
summarized  in  his  final  review. 

The  general  summary  is  also  a  great  aid  to  the  organiza- 
tion and  presentation  of  the  details  if  one  wishes  to  elab- 
orate these  details  later  in  answer  to  specific  questions. 
Thus  a  review  in  science  makes  it  possible  to  hold  irr  mind, 
through  the  use  of  general  formulas,  the  details  of  physics 
or  zoology.  One  needs  for  general  education  not  merely 
the  detailed  facts  about  motion  and  forces ;  he  ought  to 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  467 

be  able  to  grasp  the  general  topics  and  to  show  that  all  of 
the  details  group  together  under  the  general  principles  of 
the  distribution  and  conservation  of  energy.  He  ought  to 
be  able  to  describe  in  zoology  the  whole  animal  kingdom, 
pointing  out  the  major  characteristics  of  the  different  parts 
of  the  animal  kingdom  rather  than  the  detailed  structures 
of  any  particular  species. 

Broad  general  views  of  this  type  are  the  significant  re- 
sults of  all  specific  courses  when  the  student  has  really 
mastered  the  subject  matter  that  he  has  been  going  over. 
Broad  general  views  of  this  sort  will  also  encourage  stu- 
dents to  realize  that  any  subject  which  they  study  will  be 
of  significance  to  the  broad-minded  individual.  The  stu- 
dent who  is  going  to  go  into  business  is  not  likely  to  care 
about  the  details  of  zoology  or  physics ;  but  if  he  can  feel, 
when  he  has  completed  a  course,  that  he  has  secured  nine 
or  ten  general  principles  in  each  of  the  sciences,  he  will  be 
encouraged  to  regard  these  as  permanent  elements  of  his 
intellectual  equipment,  whereas  now  he  commonly  believes 
that  he  is  at  the  end  of  the  subject  and  is  entirely  content 
to  forget  all  of  the  information  which  he  has  accumulated 
in  these  courses. 

Generalization  is  the  most  important  result  of  any  study; 
and  any  course  which  does  not  permit  its  material  to  be 
generalized  in  a  few  salient  principles  that  can  be  compre- 
hended and  carried  away  by  the  student  is  not  organized  in 
the  form  which  justifies  its  retention. 

MENTAL  HYGIENE 

These  practical  suggestions  for  the  organization  of  the 
course  of  study  should  be  coupled  with  certain  practical 
suggestions  on  mental  hygiene.  Every  student  should  re- 
alize that  there  is  a  hygiene  of  mental  operations  exactly 
as  there  is  a  hygiene  of  physical  operations.  Indeed,  in 


468    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

many  cases  the  two  coincide  exactly.  Thus  the  student 
will  find,  if  he  watches  carefully  his  own  modes  of  study, 
that  very  frequently  mental  excitement  is  accompanied  by 
a  form  of  physical  tension  which  is  altogether  unfavorable 
for  his  work.  Anyone  who  has  seen  an  eager  student  over- 
working in  his  efforts  to  get  a  lesson  will  realize  that  over- 
work consists  in  an  abnormal  tension  of  the  muscles.  Very 
frequently  the  facial  muscles  are  so  tense  that  the  student 
is  seen  to  be  wearing  himself  out  and  expending  his  energy 
at  an  utterly  unjustifiable  rate.  That  student  ought  to 
be  taught  to  relax.  It  is  just  as  much  a  part  of  his  intel- 
lectual training  to  learn  to  work  without  so  much  physical 
friction  as  it  is  to  remember  the  ideas  which  he  is  reading. 
In  fact,  he  will  never  be  able  to  remember  ideas  so  long  as 
he  works  at  that  high  physical  tension. 

• 

DANGEES  OF  OVEESTIMULATION 

Teachers  very  frequently  transgress  the  requirements  of 
mental  hygiene  when  they  develop  in  students  an  attitude 
which  is  entirely  out  of  accord  with  their  real  needs.  Thus 
a  conscientious  boy  or  girl  is  urged  to  study  more  because 
the  teacher  has  fallen  into  the  habit  of  assuming  that  boys 
and  girls  usually  do  not  study  as  much  as  they  ought  to. 
The  artificial  devices  adopted  by  such  a  teacher  sometimes 
consist  in  an  appeal  to  class  loyalty  or  school  loyalty.  When 
the  student,  already  overconscientious  about  his  work,  is 
thus  urged  to  add  to  his  efforts,  he  sits  down  to  his  task 
with  his  mind  full  of  the  necessity  of  not  disgracing  the 
class.  He  works  at  a  high  tension  and  under  a  form  of  dis- 
traction which  is  utterly  irrational.  Teachers  ought  to  real- 
ize that  there  are  many  students  who  do  not  need  to  be 
urged  to  work.  Some  students  ought  to  be  told  definitely 
that  it  makes  no  difference  whether  they  get  a  certain 
lesson  in  great  detail  or  not.  Such  students  ought  very 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  TO  STUDY  469 

frequently  to  be  encouraged  to  read  over  matter  in  a  rela- 
tively superficial  way  and  get  the  general  principles,  leaving 
the  details  to  be  worked  out  in  the  recitation  itself.  Once 
a  habit  of  relaxed  and  deliberate  study  is  cultivated,  such 
a  student  will  make  progress  because  he  needed  only  to  re- 
duce the  distraction  and  tension  in  order  to  take  a  calm  view 
of  the  subject  which  he  is  studying.  There  is  quite  as  much 
danger  of  one  type  of  student  losing  his  perspective  in  a  sub- 
ject because  he  tries  too  hard  and  makes  unnecessary  mo- 
tions, intellectual  and  physical,  as  there  is  of  another  type 
of  student  failing  because  he  does  not  study  enough. 

DANGERS  OF  DISTRACTION 

Of  course  there  are  and  always  will  be  students  who 
need  to  be  encouraged  to  work.  The  teacher  must  learn 
to  discriminate.  The  people  who  do  not  work  enough  are 
either  constitutionally  phlegmatic  or  they  are  distracted 
by  outside  engagements.  Outside  engagements  constitute 
a  much  more  common  source  of  distraction  in  the  school 
than  do  constitutional  limitations  of  any  sort.  A  recent 
study1  which  has  been  made  of  this  matter  goes  to  show 
with  perfect  definiteness  that  students  who  have  numerous 
other  engagements  fail  in  their  school  work  just  because  of 
these  outside  engagements.  A  student  ought  to  realize  and 
the  parents  of  students  ought  to  realize  that  a  certain  amount 
of  energy  is  at  hand  during  the  school  period.  It  is  entirely 
legitimate  for  the  student  and  his  family  to  decide  that  this 
energy  ought  to  be  expended  on  activities  other  than  those 
covered  by  the  school  curriculum.  For  example,  it  is  un- 
doubtedly legitimate  for  the  student  to  take  a  course  in 
art  or  music ;  but  if  this  work  outside  of  the  regular  cur- 
riculum is  taken  by  the  student,  there  ought  to  be  such  a 

1 1.  King,  The  High-school  Age,  Chaps,  x  and  xi.  The  Bobbs-Merrill 
Company,  1914. 


470     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

readjustment  of  the  school  program  that  the  outside  work 
will  not  simply  be  added  to  the  demand  which  is  made  for 
the  regular  work.  The  fundamental  principle  of  physical 
and  mental  hygiene  is  the  principle  of  distribution  of  energy. 
Overtaxing  of  energy  is  illegitimate  and  disadvantageous 
from  every  point  of  view.  Why  not  allow  the  student  to 
go  more  slowly  through  his  course  of  study  in  the  school, 
in  order  that  he  may  cultivate  certain  other  lines  of  activity 
which  are  good  and  often  more  advantageous  to  the  indi- 
vidual than  are  the  school  courses  ?  This  would  mean  that 
students  would  move  through  the  high  school  at  various 
different  rates ;  and  there  ought  to  be  no  social  or  intellec- 
tual stigma  attaching  to  this  movement  through  the  high- 
school  course  at  a  rate  which  is  determined  by  the  outside 
activities  of  the  student. 

ADJUSTING  STUDY  TO  OUTSIDE  ENGAGEMENTS 

One  remembers  the  plan  which  is  in  regular  use  in  the 
English  universities  of  distinguishing  between  students  who 
are  aiming  at  high  intellectual  honors  and  those  who  are 
merely  passing  in  their  courses  and  are  using  their  energies 
for  outside  social  activities.  Whether  this  is  a  plan  that  can 
be  adopted  in  a  democracy  or  not,  it  is  certainly  rational  in 
the  sense  that  it  does  not  assume  that  all  students  are  go- 
ing to  put  forth  in  study  the  same  kind  or  degree  of  energy. 
Probably  we  should  not  want  to  make  the  distinction  in 
this  country  on  the  basis  of  the  English  university  plan,  but 
we  certainly  may  with  propriety  relate  the  work  done  in- 
side the  school  and  the  work  which  a  student  is  doing 
outside  of  school  hours.  If  for  some  reason  or  other  the 
student  is  going  to  be  engaged  in  outside  activities  three 
days'  in  the  week,  he  certainly  ought  to  make  this  a 
part  of  his  general  program.  If  he  can  afford  to  give 
four  or  five  days  to  these  outside  engagements,  he  ought 


TEACHING  STUDENTS  10  STUDY  471 

to  recognize  such  engagements  as  part  of  his  legitimate 
program  of  intellectual  and  physical  effort. 

What  has  been  said  with  regard  to  outside  activities  ought 
to  cover  also  those  activities  which  are  organized  by  the 
school  as  social  and  athletic  undertakings.  There  ought 
to  be  absolutely  no  prejudice  against  recognizing  this  work 
and  making  it  a  part  of  the  legitimate  program  of  the  stu- 
dents. It  is  a  fundamental  mistake  to  believe  that  the  im- 
mature student  can  regulate  without  advice  and  supervision 
the  amount  of  energy  which  he  can  properly  devote  to  these 
activities  outside  of  the  regular  course.  If  we  are  not  pre- 
pared to  put  such  engagements  on  the  same  footing  as  class 
work,  we  certainly  must  reajize  their  relation  to  the  work 
which  is  credited  toward  graduation  ;  and  this  relation  ought 
to  be  adjusted  in  a  rational  way.  The  amount  of  energy 
which  students  have  available  is  enormous.  This  fact  is 
attested  by  their  numerous  organizations  and  numerous 
lines  of  activities  not  immediately  connected  with  the  school 
program.  If  one  attempted  to  get  the  whole  of  this  energy 
for  school  courses,  he  would  find  himself  obstructed  by  the 
social  temper  of  the  school  and  of  society  at  large.  Society 
regards  irregular  social  and  recreative  activities  as  impor- 
tant for  high-school  students.  How  far  these  activities  may 
legitimately  absorb  the  student's  energy  is  a  difficult  prob- 
lem for  both  society  and  for  the  school  to  solve,  but  it  is 
certainly  time  that  the  problem  received  grave  attention. 
Appeals  must  be  made  to  the  students  themselves  in  terms 
of  scientific  self -management  to  distribute  their  energy  with 
an  economical  and  clear  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the 
energy  which  is  available  at  any  given  tune  in  life  is  limited. 

Such  discussions  as  these  lead  us  to  the  whole  problem 
of  secondary  organization  and  the  problems  characteristic 
of  the  adolescent  student.  In  the  next  chapter  we  shall 
have  an  opportunity  to  summarize  briefly  the  general  facts 
which  are  now  available  on  these  subjects.  In  the  meantime 


472    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

the  conclusion  of  the  present  discussion  is  that  there  ought 
to  be  a  definite,  conscious  recognition  on  the  part  of  students 
of  the  necessity  of  studying  mental  hygiene.  Mental  hygiene 
is  quite  as  important  as  hygiene  of  buildings  and  of  the  phys- 
ical system.  Mental  hygiene  involves  a  study  of  individ- 
ual differences ;  it  involves  a  study  of  human  energy  and 
its  distribution ;  it  involves  the  recognition  of  the  fact  that 
the  course  of  study  is  only  one  factor  in  an  education,  but 
a  factor  which  must  be  safeguarded  by  a  clear  recognition 
of  the  fact  that  the  course  of  study  cannot  be  pursued  un- 
less the  intellectual  and  physical  conditions  under  which  it 
is  presented  are  favorable  to  this  pursuit. 

EXCELLENT  STUDENTS  REQUIRE  THE  MAXIMUM 
OF  ATTENTION 

Finally,  it  should  be  emphasized  once  more  that  all  this 
discussion  about  how  to  study  and  how  to  organize  intellec- 
tual material  and  distribute  energy  is  more  important  for  the 
strong  student  than  for  the  weak  or  mediocre  student.  We 
commonly  recognize  the  necessity  of  helping  the  student 
who  is  failing,  though  we  usually  do  this  rescue  work  badly 
because  we  have  not  given  due  attention  to  good  habits  of 
study.  It  is  time  for  us  to  learn  how  to  guide  those  who  do 
excellent  work  quite  as  much  as  those  who  do  a  low  grade 
of  work. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

GENERAL  PROBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION 
GENERAL  SOCIAL  AND  HYGIENIC  PROBLEMS 

Casual  reference  has  been  made  in  earlier  chapters  to 
general  psychological  conditions  which  govern  all  of  the 
activities  of  school  life.  A  relation  of  friendly  cooperation 
between  teacher  and  students  is  one  such  general  condition. 
Grave  consequences  for  the  intellectual  life  of  students 
follow  failure  to  establish  friendly  relations.  Furthermore, 
favorable  hygienic  conditions  must  be  provided  for  school 
work.  The  physical  conditions  which  are  necessary  for 
healthy  functioning  of  the  nervous  system  must  be  secured 
if  there  is  to  be  vigorous  and  productive  mental  work. 

SPECIAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  chapter,  however,  to  enter 
into  a  discussion  of  these  general  facts  of  school  hygiene 
and  mental  hygiene.  We  shall  discuss  what  might  be  called 
the  problem  of  social  hygiene.  There  are  certain  unique 
characteristics  of  the  high  school  which  determine  the  social 
and  mental  atmosphere  of  this  institution.  These  unique 
characteristics  of  the  high  school  affect  the  intellectual  work 
of  the  students  in  such  a  degree  that  we  shall  be  able  to 
understand  the  work  of  each  department  only  by  denning 
the  place  of  this  department  in  the  general  scheme.  We 
shall  accordingly  take  up  in  this  final  chapter  such  general 
characteristics  of  the  high  school  as  influence  the  activities 
of  the  students. 

473 


474     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

GENERAL  SOCIAL  CHANGES 

A  generation  ago  the  high  school  stood  apart  from  the 
common  schools  as  an  institution  to  be  attended  by  the 
select.  One  reads  the  history  of  American  secondary  schools 
with  a  clear  recognition  of  the  fact  that  fifty  years  ago  the 
ordinary  family  did  not  expect  to  send  its  boys  and  girls 
through  secondary  schools.  It  was  not  until  the  rapid  devel- 
opment of  the  secondary  schools  in  the  eighties  and  subse- 
quent decades  that  the  general  social  attitude  toward  the 
high  school  came  to  be  something  like  the  attitude  toward 
the  elementary  school.  In  fact,  one  can  trace  a  very  inter- 
esting evolution  of  the  relations  between  the  two  schools. 
In  the  older  sections  of  the  country  there  was  a  vigorous 
effort  made  to  extend  the  elementary-school  period  so  that 
every  child  might  have  as  much  education  in  the  common 
school  as  possible.  We  find,  therefore,  that  in  New  Eng- 
land there  was  an  extension  of  the  common  school  to  in- 
clude the  ninth  year  of  school  life.  Even  to-day  one  can  find 
in  many  of  the  cities  of  New  England  a  nine-year  elemen- 
tary school.  This  nine-year  elementary  school  is  the  expres- 
sion of  a  high  economic  and  social  development.  Since  the 
common  people  did  not  expect  to  send  their  children  to 
the  high  school,  it  was  natural  that  they  should  seek  for 
these  children  as  full  an  opportunity  of  elementary-school 
life  as  possible.  The  difficulty  with  the  nine-year  elemen- 
tary school  was  that  it  did  not  provide  in  the  upper  grades 
for  any  training  other  than  that  which  had  been  traditional 
in  the  lower  grades.  The  ninth  grade  offered  nothing  but 
mere  repetitions  and  timid  extensions  of  the  work  done 
in  the  lower  grades. 


PKOBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     475 

THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  AS  PART  OF  THE  COMMON  SCHOOL 

In  the  newer  sections  of  the  country  there  is  absolutely 
no  disposition  at  the  present  time  to  extend  the  elementary 
school  through  the  ninth  year.  If  one  visits  the  elementary 
schools  of  the  Middle  States  he  finds,  indeed,  that  there  is 
great  eagerness  on  the  part  of  communities  to  provide  as 
full  an  educational  opportunity  as  possible  for  the  young 
people  of  these  communities,  but  it  never  occurs  to  a  com- 
munity in  the  Middle  West  that  it  is  desirable  to  extend 
the  elementary  school.  The  fact  is  that  the  high  school  is  the 
natural  place  for  most  of  the  young  people  in  the  community 
to  continue  their  education,  and  access  to  the  high  school 
is  made  so  easy  that  there  is  no  reason  for  an  extension  of 
the  elementary  school.  There  probably  will  never  be  a  rep- 
etition in  newer  parts  of  the  country  of  the  New  England 
phenomenon  of  an  added  year  of  elementary  education. 

The  same  general  movement  appears  in  the  South,  where 
there  is  no  disposition  to  extend  the  seven-year  elementary 
school  which  resulted  from  the  relatively  unfavorable  eco- 
nomic conditions  that  limited  the  development  of  public 
common  schools.  The  seven-year  school  appeared  merely  be- 
cause it  was  not  possible,  on  account  of  economic  conditions, 
to  reach  the  full  organization  of  New  England  or  of  the 
middle  states  in  the  North.  But  this  seven-year  elementary 
school  has  served  so  well  the  purposes  of  education,  and  in 
the  meantime  there  has  been  so  vigorous  a  development  of 
secondary  education  in  the  more  progressive  communities, 
that  there  is  a  consensus  of  intelligent  opinion  against 
extending  the  seven-year  school  into  an  eight-year  school. 

We  have,  accordingly,  in  this  country  at  the  present  time 
three  types  of  elementary  schools,  the  seven-year  school,  the 
eight-year  school,  and  the  nine-year  school.1  All  of  these 

1 E.  C.  Brooks,  "  Seven,  Eight,  and  Nine  Years  in  the  Elementary 
School,"  Elementary  School  Teacher,  1913,  Vol.  XIV,  pp.  20-28,  82-92. 


476     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

will  be  understood  when  one  recognizes  the  fact  that  the 
present-day  movement  is  in  the  direction  not  of  the  elabo- 
ration and  extension  of  elementary  education,  but  rather  in 
the  direction  of  amalgamation  of  the  elementary  school  with 
the  high  school  in  such  a  way  that  the  latter  institution 
shall  become  a  part  of  the  common-school  system. 

This  new  attitude  toward  public  education  is  of  the  high- 
est advantage  because  it  opens  the  way  for  any  readjust- 
ment which  can  be  justified  by  scientific  studies  of  education. 
So  long  as  there  was  a  breach  between  the  two  schools  the 
problem  of  readjustment  was  complicated  by  institutional 
barriers.  With  these  barriers  removed,  there  is  no  reason 
why  considerations  relating  to  intellectual  and  physical 
development  should  not  come  into  the  foreground.  The 
social  movement  which  has  opened  the  high  school  to  all 
the  children  is  therefore  a  movement  toward  the  best 
educational  organizations. 

EFFECT  OF  RAPID  INCREASE  IN  ATTENDANCE 

The  clearest  evidences  which  appear  within  the  high 
school  itself  of  the  adoption  of  this  institution  into  the 
common-school  scheme  of  education  appears  in  the  rapid 
growth  of  the  high  schools.  The  facts  which  have  frequently 
been  summarized  in  the  reports  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Education  show  that  during  the  decade  immediately  preced- 
ing 1900-1901  the  number  of  secondary  schools,  including 
both  private  and  public,  increased  nearly  100  per  cent,  and 
the  number  of  students  increased  in  a  somewhat  higher  ratio. 
In  the  decade  from  1900-1901  to  1910-1911  the  number  of 
schools  increased  from  8210  to  12,213,  and  the  number  of 
students  increased  from  649,951  to  1,115,326.  At  the  end 
of  the  year  1911-1912  there  were  13,268  schools  and 
1,246,827  students.  This  great  increase  in  the  number  of 
students  attending  high  schools  indicates  that  the  social 


PKOBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     477 

movement  in  the  direction  of  a  democratic  institution  is  very 
strong.  Such  an  influx  of  students  brings  into  the  high  school 
every  possible  kind  of  interest.  It  is  not  merely  the  students 
who  are  going  to  enter  the  professions  who  now  take  a  sec- 
ondary course.  Many  students  enter  the  high  school  with  a 
definite  knowledge  that  they  are  going  into  business  or  into 
the  other  nonprofessional  activities  of  society.  When  a  va- 
riety of  interests  begins  to  assert  itself  in  the  student  body, 
consequences  are  sure  to  appear  in  the  organization  of  the 
course  of  study  and  in  the  intellectual  life  of  the  school. 
It  is  quite  impossible  to  think  of  a  rigid  required  course 
under  the  social  conditions  represented  by  this  increase  in 
the  high-school  population.  It  is  quite  impossible  to  think 
of  a  policy  of  elimination  of  students  on  a  basis  such  as 
was  laid  down  in  the  earlier  days  of  the  secondary  school. 
We  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  in  any  detail  the  psycho- 
logical consequences  of  this  movement  toward  democracy. 
Certain  disadvantages  doubtless  appear  with  this  rapid  ex- 
pansion. The  individual  student  is  distracted  by  the  be- 
wildering variety  of  social  relations.  The  tendency  to  pay 
attention  to  people  rather  than  to  studies  is  often  remarked 
as  one  of  the  dangers  of  the  present-day  high  school.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  constant  emphasis  on  social  and  practical 
relations  has  a  broadening  influence  which  no  subject  of 
instruction  taken  by  itself  can  supply.  The  psychological 
atmosphere  is  broad  and  free,  and  the  study  which  goes  on 
in  the  school  and  at  home  is  radically  affected  by  this  new 
and  stimulating  social  environment. 

A  WIDER  INTELLECTUAL  VIEW  CHARACTERISTIC 
OF  THE  AGE 

A  further  change  in  the  psychological  atmosphere  is  to 
be  explained  by  calling  attention  to  the  productive  scholar- 
ship and  wider  national  life  which  have  in  recent  years  given 


478     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

to  the  high  schools  a  new  body  of  material  of  instruction. 
The  rapid  enlargements  of  modern  science  and  the  exten- 
sion of  commercial  relations  are  so  obvious  that  a  mere 
reference  to  these  without  any  effort  at  quantitative  evalu- 
ation suggests  one  of  the  major  causes  for  the  vigorous 
intellectual  life  of  the  age.  The  boy  who  went  to  high 
school  in  1890  had  no  such  interest  in  European  civilization 
as  does  the  boy  who  twenty-five  years  later  enters  upon  his 
high-school  course.  The  present-day  boy  may  be  interested  in 
Europe  because  he  expects  to  develop  commercial  relations 
with  some  country  in  Europe  or  he  may  be  interested  for 
the  general  reasons  which  prompt  all  of  us  to  consider  the 
place  of  the  United  States  in  the  politics  of  the  world  ;  but 
it  is  certain,  whatever  the  motive,  that  the  high-school  boy 
of  to-day  knows  more  about  European  affairs  than  did  his 
father  when  his  father  went  to  the  high  school.  In  the  same 
way  natural  science  has  come  to  be  one  of  the  general  pos- 
sessions of  society.  A  generation  ago  natural  science  was 
the  field  of  the  specialist,  and  the  applications  of  scientific 
principles  in  the  industrial  and  mechanical  world  were  com- 
paratively few.  To-day  all  sorts  of  complex  mechanical 
devices  are  familiar  facts  in  the  home  and  in  community 
life.  The  high-school  student  must  be  introduced  to  all 
of  the  underlying  principles  which  govern  these  industrial 
changes.  Indeed,  so  urgent  has  come  to  be  the  need  for 
knowledge  of  mechanical  principles  that  some  of  this  ma- 
terial has  been  introduced  into  the  elementary  schools  as 
well  as  into  the  high  schools. 

AGRICULTURAL  HIGH  SCHOOLS 

In  its  attempts  to  deal  with  all  of  the  new  problems  that 
are  arising,  the  modern  high  school  is  boldly  trying  the  most 
radical  experiments.  One  finds  that  a  school  has  arisen  in 
rural  communities  known  as  the  agricultural  high  school. 


PKOBLEMS  OF  SECONDAKY  EDUCATION     479 

This  agricultural  high  school  is  attempting  to  develop  a 
body  of  knowledge  which  shall  be  appropriate  to  the  age 
and  maturity  of  the  students  and  shall  at  the  same  time 
serve  the  definite  social  end  of  training  members  of  the 
community  to  remain  in  the  rural  districts  and  carry  on 
their  life  work  in  agriculture. 

TECHNICAL  SCHOOLS 

Parallel  with  this  agricultural  high  school  there  have 
grown  up  in  the  cities  technical  education  and  commercial 
education.  These  various  types  of  training  have  asserted 
themselves  with  sufficient  vigor  to  receive  the  enthusiastic 
support  of  the  community.  It  costs  more  to  build  and  equip 
a  technical  high  school,  and  the  cost  of  maintenance  for  such 
a  school  is  much  higher,  than  that  of  an  ordinary  school. 
But  the  communities  in  which  these  schools  have  been 
established  have  usually  supported  them  with  even  greater 
willingness  than  they  have  manifested  in  providing  for  the 
ordinary  school. 

READJUSTMENT  OF  STANDARDS 

Agricultural  and  technical  high  schools  have  not  hesi- 
tated to  abandon  most  of  the  standards  which  were  familiar 
to  the  old-fashioned  classical  high  school.  This  abandon- 
ment of  familiar  standards  has  led  to  criticism  and  counter 
criticism.  Colleges  and  academic  people  in  general  have 
questioned  the  propriety  of  many  of  the  courses  which  are 
offered  hi  these  technical  schools,  on  the  ground  that  they 
are  lacking  in  power  to  train  the  student.  The  technical 
high  schools  have  retorted  by  criticizing  the  colleges  and 
the  classical  courses  as  thoroughly  formal  and  unproductive. 
We  have,  therefore,  the  extraordinary  sight,  at  the  present 
tune,  of  a  great  social  movement  which  is  pushing  in  the 


480     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

direction  of  the  enlargement  of  secondary  education  while 
the  academic  world  seems  to  draw  back  and  hesitate,  reject- 
ing many  of  the  experiments  in  secondary  education  and 
exhibiting  skepticism  about  the  movement  as  a  whole. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  striking  evidences  of  the  com- 
plexity of  the  present  situation  is  the  long  list  of  agencies 
at  work  trying  to  standardize  the  courses  of  education  in 
secondary  schools.  Since  the  Committee  of  Ten  completed 
its  work  numerous  efforts  have  been  made  to  enlarge  in 
some  form  upon  the  work  of  that  committee.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  at  all  that  the  bringing  together  of  material  by  the 
Committee  of  Ten  on  the  course  of  study  promoted  very 
greatly  the  organization  of  secondary  schools.  That  commit- 
tee did  its  work  just  at  the  beginning  of  the  epoch  of  rapid 
expansion,  and  its  influence  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 
But  the  time  is  long  since  past  when  a  well-organized  high 
school  can  be  satisfied  with  the  recommendations  made  at 
that  time.  At  first  thought,  th'eref  ore,  it  has  seemed  to  some 
desirable  to  recommend  another  such  committee.  A  study 
of  the  recent  history  of  the  high  school,  however,  discourages 
so  simple  a  device. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  very  little  possibility  at  the 
present  time  of  devising  one  formula  which  will  include  all 
parts  of  the  country.  The  Middle  West  has  a  type  of  high 
school  which  no  one  born  and  bred  east  of  the  Allegheny 
Mountains  can  comprehend.  The  committee  which  tries  to 
put  the  high  schools  of  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  into  the 
same  general  scheme  with  the  high  schools  of  Hartford  and 
Worcester  finds  that  it  is  dealing  with  incommensurable 
quantities.  The  tendency,  therefore,  has  been  to  carry  on 
standardizing  through  a  number  of  distinct,  local  agencies. 

In  the  second  place,  development  of  courses  and  plans 
of  instruction  has  gone  forward  at  such  a  rapid  rate  that 
standardization  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  definition  before 
the  course  is  given  is  no  longer  possible.  The  experience 


PKOBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     481 

*>f  the  North  Central  Association  of  Colleges  and  Second- 
ary Schools  in  this  respect  is  very  striking.  The  work  of 
numerous  departmental  committees  became  so  rapidly  anti- 
quated that  even  the  effort  to  keep  up  these  detailed  reports 
has  lapsed. 


In  a  period  of  rapid  readjustment  the  tendency  of  human 
nature  to  grasp  at  the  one  easy  device  of  quantitative  eval- 
uation has  unfortunately  dominated  thought  and  action. 
We  have  a  quantitative  standard  all  over  the  United  States. 
It  is  a  fiction  of  the  most  ludicrous  transparency,  but  it 
seems  to  be  satisfying  to  some  who  know  little  about  the 
real  conditions,  especially  to  those  who  solemnly  sit  in 
judgment  on  those  graduates  of  high  schools  who  wish 
to  go  to  college. 

NUMBER  OF  REQUIRED  UNITS  HAS  RAPIDLY  INCREASED 

Let  us  consider  briefly  some  of  the  facts  regarding  our 
present-day  quantitative  standard.  When  the  definition  of 
a  high  school  was  given  by  the  Committee  of  Ten,  it  was 
assumed  that  the  student's  weekly  program  might  consist 
of  sixteen  periods  of  work,  with  a  possibility  of  extension 
in  exceptional  cases  up  to  twenty.  Nowhere  in  the  report  of 
the  Committee  of  Ten  are  more  than  twenty  mentioned ; 
and  wherever  twenty  periods  are  mentioned  it  is  evident 
that  the  Committee  regards  this  number  as  an  extreme 
maximum.  If  a  student  carries  sixteen  hours  of  work  a 
week,  as  the  Committee  of  Ten  evidently  intended  that  he 
should,  he  would  complete  at  the  end  of  a  four-year  course 
twelve  or  thirteen  units  of  work.  Or  else  a  unit  would 
consist  of  four  periods  a  week.  This  was  a  very  familiar 
kind  of  requirement  when  the  Committee  of  Ten  was  doing 


482     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

its  work.  To-day  no  secondary  school  could  maintain  itself 
as  a  first-class  high  school  if  it  gave  to  its  students  twelve 
units  of  work  in  a  four-year  high-school  course.  Furthermore, 
all  of  the  standardizing  agencies  discourage  four  periods. 
Fourteen  is  the  absolute  minimum  to  which  the  school  may 
fall,  and  sixteen  is  the  common  requirement  for  graduation. 
The  ordinary  student  in  an  American  high  school  expects; 
therefore,  to  take  at  least  four  units  of  work  each  year.  In 
order  to  be  quite  safe  in  completing  four  units  a  year,  he 
is  likely  to  take  five.  In  many  cases  the  school  is  so  organ- 
ized that  during  the  years  when  the  student  is  taking  work 
which  is,  for  the  most  part,  required,  he  will  regularly  find 
himself  required  to  take  more  than  four  units  of  work.  In 
some  cases  the  excess  beyond  four  units  is  dropped  before 
the  end  of  the  year,  and  in  some  cases  the  student  fails  in 
one  or  more  of  his  courses,  but  readjusts  and  achieves  grad- 
uation at  the  end  of  the  fourth  year  because  of  the  excess 
units  which  he  elects  at  some  time  during  his  course. 
Furthermore,  there  are  many  students  who  are  anxious  to 
get  off  the  major  part  of  their  requirements  in  the  early 
years  of  the  course,  so  that  they  may  have  a  light  election 
of  studies  during  the  last  year.  Finally,  many  students 
complete  the  high-school  course  in  less  than  four  years 
by  taking  five  units. 

MOTIVES  FOB  INCREASE  IN  NUMBER  OF  UNITS 

The  agencies  which  have  been  at  work  increasing  the 
number  of  units  demanded  of  high-school  students  have 
been  prompted  in  part  by  the  desire  to  include  in  a  given 
student's  training  a  large  number  of  subjects.  As  the  re- 
quired classical  curriculum  of  earlier  days  has  been  forced 
to  give  way  before  the  newer  subjects,  the  simplest  device 
which  suggested  itself  was  to  add  the  new  subjects  as 
extras.  English  was  once  an  extra  in  some  schools.  To-day 


PROBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     483 

there  is  a  fringe  of  noncredit  extras  which  will  presently 
be  adopted  "for  credit." 

The  second  motive  which  has  been  strong  in  pushing  up 
the  number  of  courses  required  for  graduation  is  the  desire 
to  secure  a  greater  quantity  of  intellectual  work  from  stu- 
dents. Every  generation  of  teachers  has  felt  that  students 
do  not  do  all  the  work  of  which  they  are  capable.  Again, 
it  seems  natural  to  assume  that  the  simplest  device  is  to 
require  more  courses.  It  would  be  possible  to  require  more 
study  within  the  limits  of  existing  courses,  but  such  in- 
ternal requirements  can  be  enforced  only  when  instructors 
have  the  highest  qualifications  of  initiative  and  skill.  The 
external  quantitative  standard  is  therefore  accepted  while 
internal  improvement  is  left  to  the  vicissitudes  of  chance. 

EMPHASIS  ON  QUANTITY  HAS  BECOME  FORMAL 

The  emphasis  on  quantity  defeats  its  own  purposes.  Let 
us  try,  for  example,  to  estimate  the  requirements  which 
can  be  imposed  on  a  class  studying  algebra  in  a  present- 
day  high  school.  This  class  is  made  up  of  members  all  of 
whom  are  taking  three  other  units  and  some  of  whom  are 
taking  four  other  units.  The  class  also  contains  members 
of  the  athletic  teams  and  social  organizations.  The  class 
is  made  up  in  large  measure  of  young  people  who  do  not 
intend  to  use  algebra  for  professional  purposes.  Without 
commenting  at  this  time  on  the  desirability  of  their  taking 
algebra,  the  fact  is  that  they  are  together  in  this  class,  and 
the  business  of  the  teacher  is  to  see  to  it  that  something 
productive  comes  out  of  the  undertaking.  Can  the  teacher 
require  as  much  work  of  such  a  class  as  was  required 
twenty  years  ago  when  a  class  in  algebra  was  made  up  of 
a  restricted  membership,  in  which  most  of  the  students 
were  pursuing  only  two  other  subjects?  Most  of  the 
members  of  the  earlier  class  were  also  free  from  outside 


484     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

distractions  of  any  engrossing  type.  The  answer  is  perfectly 
clear.  The  quantity  of  work  which  is  now  undertaken  in 
any  particular  course  differs  radically  from  the  quantity 
which  could  be  required  before  the  quantitative  standards 
were  pushed  up  to  their  present  level. 

STANDARDIZATION  EXTREMELY  DIFFICULT 

If  we  turn  from  the  quantitative  definition  to  discover 
what  degree  of  readjustment  or  redefinition  ought  to  be 
required,  we  find  that  we  are  in  the  midst  of  uncertainty 
and  the  sharpest  disagreements.  There  is  no  subject  of  in- 
struction in  the  high  school  which  has  an  accepted  method. 
There  are  some  teachers  of  the  classics,  for  example,  who 
lay  great  stress  upon  grammatical  constructions ;  there  are 
others  who  openly  express  their  dissatisfaction  with  the 
grammatical  method,  and  are  carrying  on  courses  which 
lay  very  little  emphasis  on  grammar.  College  teachers  of 
the  classics  complain  bitterly  because  students  come  to  them 
without  knowledge  of  the  fundamentals,  as  they  call  them, 
of  the  Latin  language.  One  might  go  on  through  the  list, 
pointing  out  the  discrepancies  in  qualitative  standards  in 
different  high  schools.  Various  associations  have  attempted 
to  define  these  subjects  in  the  high  school,  with  the  result 
that  elaborate  committee  reports  are  at  hand,  differing  from 
each  other  so  radically  that  it  is  evident  that  no  one  is  pre- 
pared to  allow  anyone  else  to  define  for  him  the  subject 
matter  of  a  high-school  course. 

ELIMINATION  AS  A  SPUR  TO  EFFORT  DISAPPEARING 

This  vagueness  of  standards  is  exaggerated  by  a  change 
in  the  social  attitude  with  regard  to  school  standards  in 
general.  The  time  was  when  every  higher  institution  prided 
itself  on  the  number  of  students  it  eliminated.  One  still 


PROBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     485 

finds  individual  instructors  and  institutions  which  adopt 
the  standard  of  elimination  as  the  expression  of  the  highest 
academic  efficiency.  One  finds  an  institution,  for  example, 
which  eliminates  at  Christmas  time  fifteen  to  thirty-five  per 
cent  of  the  students  who  were  admitted  in  the  autumn. 
This  elimination  is  supposed  to  be  justified,  on  the  ground 
that  during  the  first  term  the  students  have  been  tried  out. 
There  is,  however,  a  growing  conviction  that  wholesale 
elimination  is  a  mark  of  inefficiency.  If  this  growing  con- 
viction could  express  itself,  it  would  be  something  like  this : 
No  institution  has  the  right  to  admit  in  the  autumn  students 
who  are  likely  to  be  eliminated  by  Christmas  time.  When- 
ever an  institution  makes  a  wholesale  elimination  at  the  end 
of  the  first  term,  this  elimination  is  the  clearest  possible 
evidence  that  the  institution  has  not  succeeded  in  establish- 
ing proper  relations  with  the  schools  below.  If  students 
are  not  qualified  to  go  on  with  the  work  of  a  given  institu- 
tion or  a  given  class,  that  fact  ought  to  be  known  at  the 
beginning  of  the  course.  It  is  the  business  of  the  higher 
institution  to  make  its  purposes  clear  enough  to  the  lower 
institutions  so  that  there  shall  not  be  wholesale  elimination. 

DISTRIBUTION  TAKING  THE  PLACE  OF  ELIMINATION 

Furthermore,  elimination  is  a  very  doubtful  method  of 
treating  young  people  in  a  democratic  community.  Would 
it  not  be  better  to  find  means  of  requiring  of  these  young 
people  satisfactory  work  ?  Would  it  not  be  better  to  redis- 
tribute them  in  some  fashion  or  other  so  that  they  shall 
ultimately  find  courses  which  they  can  take  with  profit  and 
in  which  they  can  do  a  satisfactory  grade  of  work  ?  We 
have  such  a  school  system  as  that  of  Newton,  Massachusetts, 
for  example,  deliberately  putting  into  secondary  courses 
young  people  who  have  not  completed  the  work  of  the 
elementary  school.  We  find  that  the  members  of  this 


486     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

transferred  class  are  successful  in  a  very  high  degree  in  do- 
ing more  advanced  work.  We  find  that  society  in  general  is 
asking,  not  that  boys  and  girls  be  eliminated,  but  that  the 
course  of  study  be  so  modified  that  something  can  be  given 
to  each  boy  and  girl  which  will  be  profitable  for  his  intellec- 
tual and  social  growth.  This  standardizing  of  courses  by 
the  demands  of  the  communities,  rather  than  by  eliminating 
members  of  the  community  because  they  do  not  conform  to 
the  demands  of  the  curriculum,  is  an  entirely  new  develop- 
ment in  the  educational  world. 

CONTEAST  BETWEEN  GERMAN  AND  AMERICAN  METHODS 

One  becomes  very  conscious  of  the  fact  that  we  are  work- 
ing out  new  standards  and  new  methods  of  adjustment  in 
America  when  he  contrasts  American  secondary  schools  with 
the  secondary  schools  of  European  countries.  The  German 
G-ymnasium  maintains  its  standards  very  much  as  the  high 
school  of  a  generation  ago  maintained  its  standards.  If  a 
student  secures  admission  to  a  G-ymnasium  and  does  not 
conform  to  the  requirements  which  are  set  up  in  that  insti- 
tution, he  is  instantly  eliminated.  In  fact,  in  Germany  the 
pressure  is  so  great  for  admission  to  this  institution,  and 
the  conditions  are  so  crowded  in  the  professions  and  other 
social  callings  to  which  a  higher  education  leads,  that  the 
whole  social  system  favors  elimination  of  individuals  who 
seem  to  lack  'in  any  degree  the  ability  to  carry  on  the  work 
of  the  higher  schools.  The  result  is  that  the  German  Q-ym- 
nasium  is  a  highly  conservative  institution.  It  changes  its 
standards  and  its  course  of  study  very  little.  It  is  in  no 
sense  a  popular  institution,  and  it  is  in  no  sense  an  institu- 
tion which  tries  to  fit  its  course  of  study  to  general  social 
demands.  The  other  secondary  schools  of  Germany  are  very 
much  more  liberal  in  the  type  of  course  which  they  admin- 
ister, but  they  have  been  so  influenced  by  the  Gymnasium 


PROBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     487 

that  their  method  of  maintaining  standards  is  the  method 
which  was  formerly  familiar  in  the  American  high  school. 
Indeed,  one  finds  as  he  considers  the  German  school  situ- 
ation that  the  principle  of  elimination  goes  one  step  farther. 
The  Volksschule,  or  common  school  of  Germany,  is  itself  an 
instrument  of  elimination.  Anyone  who  goes  into  this  com- 
mon school  is  cut  off  from  the  possibility  of  a  higher  educa- 
tion and  from  admission  to  any  one  of  the  professional  careers. 
The  system  of  education  in  Germany  is  a  dual  system.  One 
group  of  children,  including  over  90  per  cent  of  the  popu- 
lation, is  expected  to  complete  the  work  of  eight  years  of 
elementary  education  and  then  to  go  into  the  lower,  general 
activities  of  society.  The  other  group  of  children,  selected 
because  of  their  economic  conditions  and  social  connections, 
is  permitted  to  enjoy  the  opportunities  of  a  secondary  educa- 
tion ;  but,  as  indicated  above,  this  group  is  so  large  and  the 
desire  to  reduce  the  group  is  so  intense  that  elimination  goes 
on  in  the  higher  schools,  thus  adding  within  the  secondary 
school  another  type  of  selection  to  the  fundamental  selection 
which  prevents  many  from  beginning  a  secondary  education. 

GERMAN  STANDARD  UNDEMOCRATIC 

The  German  system  makes  it  possible  to  set  up  and  main- 
tain a  definite  and  relatively  simple  standard.  It  is  the 
arbitrary  standard  of  the  instructor  who  is  interested  in  a 
special  subject  in  which  he  is  a  specialist.  He  requires  of 
the  students  under  him  a  certain  degree  of  mastery  of  the 
subject.  There  is  very  little  concession  to  the  individual. 
There  is  no  elective  opportunity  to  adjust  courses  to  indi- 
vidual capacities  and  tastes.  The  product  of  such  a  rigid 
system  as  this  is  much  more  uniform  than  the  product  of 
an  American  secondary  school,  and  it  is  much  easier  to 
understand  the  excellencies  of  such  a  uniform  product  than 
it  is  to  comprehend  the  virtues  of  our  American  democratic 


488     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

system.  We  sometimes  find  ourselves  criticizing  the  miscel- 
laneous character  of  the  American  high-school  course  and 
commending  the  rigid  uniformity  of  the  German  course. 
When  one  considers  the  historical  background  of  our  own 
American  course,  however,  he  sees  how  utterly  impossible 
it  would  be  for  us  to  go  back  to  the  German  ideal  of  second- 
ary education.  We  must  master  the  difficult  and  complex 
problem  of  a  democratic  social  standard  even  if  we  have  to 
suffer  for  a  period  while  we  are  working  out  the  uncertain- 
ties of  this  type  of  organization. 

ENGLISH  EXAMINATION  METHOD 

In  England  we  find  another  type  of  more  or  less  rigid 
requirement  which  contrasts  with  the  standards  of  American 
schools.  The  method  of  standardizing  English  schools  is 
the  examination  method.  One  finds  in  England  a  whole 
series  of  corporations  and  institutions  devoting  themselves 
to  the  examining  of  students  who  have  reached  various 
stages  of  maturity  in  the  elementary  and  secondary  schools. 
There  is  a  corporation  at  Oxford,  for  example,  and  one  in 
the  municipal  universities  of  central  England  which  will 
supply  to  any  institution  a  set  of  examination  papers  on 
almost  every  conceivable  topic  of  instruction.  Students 
write  the  papers,  and  these  papers  are  sent  to  Oxford  to  be 
examined  by  official  examiners.  The  successful  passing  of 
this  or  some  similar  examination  is  the  key  which  unlocks 
for  the  student  the  higher  opportunity  of  education.  If  the 
student  is  a  member  of  a  family  of  wealth  he  may  try  these 
examinations  with  deliberation,  and  he  may  make  as  many 
efforts  as  his  own  patience  and  the  natural  limitations  of  his 
increasing  age  will  permit.  He  can  drift  along  through  the 
school  system  by  taking  these  examinations,  therefore,  at  a 
slow  rate  in  the  hope  of  ultimately  reaching  some  institution 
where  he  will  get  the  kind  of  training  which  will  give  him 


PROBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     489 

admission  to  one  of  the  professions.  The  poor  boy,  on  the 
other  hand,  must  pass  these  examinations,  and  must  pass 
them  well,  in  order  to  gain  admission  to  the  higher  institu- 
tion. If  he  passes  them  well,  he  will  get  his  fee  paid.  There 
is  no  free  secondary  school  to  which  he  may  apply.  The 
school  is  free  to  him  as  an  individual  because  he  gets  a 
scholarship  which  pays  his  fee,  but  there  is  no  disposition 
in  any  of  the  English  secondary  schools  to  open  the  door 
to  all  comers  as  does  our  American  high  school. 

CRITICISM  OP  THE  EXAMINATION  METHOD 

This  effort  to  standardize  English  students  suffers  in 
many  respects.  The  examinations  given  by  the  various  cor- 
porations are  criticized  even  in  England  as  very  unequal 
in  then-  severity.  One  of  the  leading  systems  of  examina- 
tions is  commonly  spoken  of  as  too  easy  to  give  a  definite 
standard  to  the  students  who  are  subjected  to  its  tests. 
All  examinations  given  by  those  who  have  not  been  in  inti- 
mate contact  with  the  student's  instruction  are  arbitrary. 
Furthermore,  there  is  no  certainty  that  the  examination 
will-  pick  out  the  best  students  for  scholarship  awards. 
The  boy  or  girl  who  is  fluent  and  able  to  pass  an  examina- 
tion gets  ready  recognition,  whereas  the  slower  and  more 
deliberate  boy  has  difficulty  in  securing  access  to  the  higher 
school.  Experience  shows  also  that  the  accidents  which 
frequently  prevent  a  student  from  showing  his  real  ability 
in  a  single  crucial  test  constitute  a  fatal  objection  to  the 
examination  system.  Finally,  if  one  is  to  judge  of  the  suc- 
cess of  the  English  system  by  the  demands  which  democratic 
leaders  are  setting  up  all  over  England  for  freer  access  to 
the  higher  institutions,  it  is  evident  that  there,  as  in  this 
country,  the  movement  in  the  direction  of  a  more  demo- 
cratic secondary  education  is  sure  to  overthrow  arbitrary 
and  external  standards. 


490     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

STANDARDS  FOR  GIRLS 

In  general,  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  both  in  Germany 
and  in  England  the  admission  of  girls  to  secondary  educa- 
tion is  relatively  less  common  than  the  admission  of  boys. 
Indeed,  one  may  say  that  Germany  has  only  the  beginnings 
of  a  system  of  secondary  schools  for  its  women ;  and  in 
England  the  opportunities  for  girls  are  also  limited. 

NATURAL,  DEMOCRATIC  STANDARDS  IN  AMERICAN    - 
SCHOOLS 

One  turns  from  these  Old  World  efforts  to  standardize 
secondary  education  to  American  high  schools,  with  a  reali- 
zation that  whatever  is  done  here  to  standardize  schools 
must  be  done  in  an  entirely  different  spirit.  We  cannot 
tolerate  a  scheme  which  is  primarily  one  of  elimination. 
Society  has  opened  the  high  school  to  all  American  youths. 
These  schools  are  now  a  part  of  the  general  school  system 
of  the  country.  In  population  and  variety  of  interests 
these  schools  represent  a  social  movement  of  a -magni- 
tude not  equaled  in  any  other  country.  Our  adjustment 
of  the  situation  must  grow  out  of  a  careful  consideration 
of  students'  interests  and  of  the  interests  of  related  in- 
stitutions. We  must  study  the  students.  We  must  know 
something  about  the  changes  which  go  on  in  the  adolescent 
mind.  We  must  understand  the  relation  of  various  subjects 
of  instruction  to  individual  changes,  and  we  must  be  pre- 
pared to  group  the  subjects  of  instruction  in  such  a  way 
that  the  purposes  of  society  shall  be  served  and  a  group  of 
young  people  shall  be  trained  for  the  highly  diversified 
activities  of  social  life.  No  theoretical  or  traditional  stand- 
ard will  serve  the  purposes  of  present-day  secondary  educa- 
tion. It  cannot  be  said  that  the  high  school  must  give  such 
and  such  a  course  merely  because  that  course  has  been 


PROBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     491 

thought  to  be  of  value  in  the  past.  It  cannot  be  said  that 
anyone  can  set  up  a  theoretical  standard  which  gets  its 
justification  from  a  study  of  some  subject  by  a  specialist  in 
that  subject.  The  specialist  must  study  also  the  relation  of 
his  subject  to  the  students  and  to  the  demands  of  society. 

The  high  schools  realize  fully  the  new  strength  and 
independence  which  they  have  acquired  in  their  purpose 
to  be  of  service  to  the  community  at  large.  They  are  no 
longer  interested  in  the  arbitrary  comments  of  college 
boards  of  admission  on  what  ought  to  be  the  standard  of  a 
high  school.  They  are  not  interested,  indeed,  in  trying  to 
send  their  products  to  those  institutions  which  assume  that 
the  high  school  is  a  subservient  and  dependent  organization. 
The  high  school  is  in  a  very  real  sense  of  the  word  a  part 
of  the  common-school  system ;  and  if  colleges  are  not  pre- 
pared to  connect  themselves  in  turn  with  the  common- 
school  system  of  the  country,  the  result  will  be  the  worse 
for  the  colleges  and  not  for  the  common-school  system.  It 
is  indeed  proper  that  all  members  of  the  educational  body 
should  join  in  the  discussion  of  educational  standards ;  but 
he  who  would  prescribe  the  program  for  a  high  school  in 
these  days  of  general,  democratic  education  of  all  the 
young  people  of  the  country  must  be  prepared  to  give  for 
his  prescription  a  better  justification  than  either  tradition 
or  his  own  opinion.  He  must  be  prepared  to  say  that  the 
subject  which  he  is  advocating  and  the  mode  of  adminis- 
tering that  subject  which  he  would  defend  are  of  genuine 
service  in  promoting  intellectual  and  social  development  of 
young  people  of  the  age  of  high-school  students. 

The  intellectual  atmosphere  of  the  high  school  is  seen,  in 
the  light  of  the  foregoing  discussions,  to  be  an  atmosphere 
of  stimulating  democratic  experimentation.  Such  crudities 
and  uncertainties  as  are  manifest  are  symptoms  of  an  in- 
adequate mastery  of  a  new  and  complicated  situation.  But 
the  work  of  both  students  and  teachers  is  going  on  under 


492     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

conditions  which  promise  much  for  the  enlargement  of  the 
influence  of  this  institution.  Furthermore,  as  has  been 
repeatedly  pointed  out,  the  high  school  is  now  in  a  position 
to  make  the  radical  changes  which  a  careful  scientific  study 
of  its  problems  dictates  as  desirable.  The  restrictions  which 
limited  the  work  of  the  high  schools  in  the  past  are  largely 
broken  down,  or  at  least  so  far  weakened  that  there  are  no 
serious  barriers  in  the  way  of  needed  reorganization. 

CHANGES  CHARACTERISTIC  OF  ADOLESCENCE 

Many  of  the  considerations  which  must  guide  in  this 
reorganization  have  been  fully  discussed  in  the  foregoing 
pages.  It  remains  to  make  reference  to  some  of  the  general 
facts  which  did  not  properly  appear  in  earlier  discussions. 

First,  there  are  marked  external  changes  of  physical  de- 
velopment. The  growth  of  adolescents  may  be  described 
briefly  by  saying  that  girls  develop  from  eleven  to  thirteen 
years  of  age,  whereas  boys  show  a  similar  growth  about 
two  years  later.  This  growth  consists  in  a  general  enlarge- 
ment of  the  skeleton  and  a  change  in  the  relation  of  the 
different  parts  of  the  body.  For  example,  the  face  enlarges, 
but  the  skull  does  not  change  very  much  in  its  capacity. 
The  trunk  grows  longer,  while  the  legs  show  relatively 
less  growth.  There  is  an  enlargement  of  the  heart,  but  less 
change  in  the  arteries  and  veins.  There  is  a  rapid  growth 
in  the  sexual  organs.  This  unequal  growth  of  the  organs 
produces  certain  radical  changes  in  the  internal  organiza- 
tion, and  these  in  turn  are  accompanied  by  a  change  in  the 
functional  life  of  the  individual.  The  blood  pressure  in- 
creases because  of  the  change  of  relation  between  the  heart 
and  blood  vessels,  and  this  higher  blood  pressure  brings 
about  marked  changes  in  the  energy  of  the  individual. 
Often  there  are  changes  in  the  appetite.  Food  which  the 
child  enjoyed  now  becomes  distasteful. 


PEOBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     493 

These  physical  changes  undoubtedly  are  the  sources  of 
some  of  the  psychological  changes  which  appear  at  the  same  • 
time.  For  example,  the  adolescent  youth  is  very  likely  to 
be  moody  in  his  temperament.  He  is  sometimes  elated  to 
the  point  of  exultation ;  at  other  times  he  is  depressed  and 
plunged  into  the  deepest  melancholia.  Girls  at  this  period 
show  marked  tendencies  toward  hysteria.  These  emotional 
conditions  arise  from  the  fact  that  the  nervous  system  is 
experiencing  the  changes  which  follow  the  increase  in  blood 
pressure  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made.  Again, 
investigation  has  emphasized  the  fact  that  the  period  of 
adolescence  is  the  period  of  religious  awakening.  There 
are  more  conversions  in  the  adolescent  period  than  at  any 
other  period  in  life,  and  in  this  connection  attention  is 
drawn  to  the  fact  that  the  ceremonials  of  primitive  peoples 
always  emphasize  the  adolescent  period  as  the  period  for 
initiation  into  religious  orders  and  into  religious  knowledge. 
The  type  of  reading  matter  which  an  adolescent  youth  en- 
joys is  different  from  that  which  was  enjoyed  by  the  child 
of  younger  age.  There  is  a  tendency  toward  romanticism 
and  sentimentalism.  There  is  undoubtedly  a  larger  interest 
in  the  opposite  sex.  The  interests  of  boys  begin  to  turn 
toward  the  occupations  upon  which  they  expect  to  enter 
in  later  life,  and  the  girls  become  aware  of  the  impending 
duties  of  adult  life.  There  is,  therefore,  a  natural  empha- 
sis upon  considerations  of  the  type  that  look  forward  into 
adult  life  rather  than  backward  into  childhood. 

HALL'S  DISCUSSION  OP  ADOLESCENCE 

The  facts  thus  briefly  reviewed  are  sufficiently  impres- 
sive to  receive  all  the  consideration  which  has  of  late  been 
given  to  them.  The  educational  world  owes  a  large  debt 
to  G.  Stanley  Hall  for  his  work  on  adolescence.  It  is  little 
wonder  that  a  pioneer  in  the  field  should  be  overenthusiastic 


494    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

about  his  finding.  Hall  becomes  intemperately  speculative 
in  his  writings.  He  marks  off  adolescence  from  the  rest  of 
life  with  all  the  verbal  and  theoretical  devices  at  the  com- 
mand of  a  fertile  mind.  Adolescence  is  a  second  childhood ; 
it  repeats  certain  crucial  stages  in  the  evolution  of  the  race. 
It  is  to  be  thought  of  as  the  period  of  the  wildest  emotional 
upheavals.  It  is  unique  in  its  psychical  processes  and  cru- 
cial for  all  later  development.  The  period  of  elementary 
education  sinks  into  unimportance  awaiting  this  one  final 
period  of  intellectual  readjustment. 

Whatever  there  may  be  of  exaggeration  in  these  fanciful 
analyses,  studies  of  adolescence  have  performed  the  one 
great  service  of  drawing  attention  to  the  fact  that  mental 
life  has  a  certain  periodicity.  After  the  first  intoxication 
of  this  discovery  we  may  settle  down  to  a  careful  evalua- 
tion of  the  facts.  The  changes  which  gradually  accumulate 
during  an  earlier  period  of  child  life  are  consummated  in 
adolescence  in  such  a  way  that  a  marked  qualitative  and 
quantitative  change  takes  place  in  mental  character.  Un- 
doubtedly the  clearest  conception  can  be  gained  of  the 
adolescent  period  by  giving  attention  to  the  way  in  which 
this  period  grows  out  of  the  preceding  periods. 

INTELLECTUAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  ELEMENTARY 
SCHOOL 

We  turn,  accordingly,  to  a  brief  survey  of  the  changes 
which  have  been  going  on  intellectually  during  the  elemen- 
tary-school period.  The  little  child  just  entering  school  has 
social  interests  quite  as  strong  as  those  of  the  adolescent, 
but  these  social  interests  of  little  children  are  of  a  different 
type,  from  those  which  appear  in  the  later  stage  in  which 
the  high  school  is  interested.  When  a  child  goes  into  the 
primary  grades  he  is  very  much  interested  in  trying  to  do 
everything  that  older  people  about  him  do.  He  wants  to 


PROBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     495 

read  not  because  he  has  any  appreciation  of  the  value 
of  this  art  or  any  desire  to  accumulate  information;  he 
merely  wants  to  be  admitted  to  what  he  recognizes  as  one 
of  society's  modes  of  procedure.  One  hears  parents  giving 
accounts  of  the  early  exhibitions  of  this  desire  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  society  in  such  form  as  this :  A  little  boy  of  four 
years  of  age  is  found  holding  the  newspaper  patiently  be- 
fore himself  as  though  he  were  reading.  When  inquiries 
are  instituted  to  find  out  what  motive  he  has  in  doing  this, 
it  is  discovered  that  he  believes  it  to  be  the  proper  thing 
for  all  men  to  hold  newspapers  before  their  faces  because 
he  has  seen  his  father  engaged  in  this  absorbing  perform- 
ance. .The  strenuous  efforts  that  are  made  by  little  children 
to  use  pencil  and  paper  in  writing  are  of  exactly  the  same 
type.  Such  efforts  show  a  desire  to  initiate  one's  self  into 
society  rather  than  an  impulse  to  accomplish  anything  for 
which  there  is  a  real  external  motive.  The  type  of  social 
life  here  exhibited  is  not  purposeful ;  it  is  imitative  in  char- 
acter. Little  girls  like  to  play  with  dolls  for  this  reason, 
and  boys  like  to  imitate  the  carpenter  and  other  workmen 
whom  they  see  about  them.  All  of  these  cases  illustrate 
the  desire  of  the  child  to  become  a  part  of  the  social  organ- 
ism which  he  observes.  He  has  in  this  early  stage  no 
standards  of  perfection,  and  he  suffers  no  embarrassment 
from  his  misuse  of  the  tools  which  he  sees  others  using.  It 
may  be  said  that  he  is  not  aware  of  the  fact  that  society  is 
critical  of  anything  that  he  does ;  he  therefore  works  with 
the  tools  of  society  without  the  slightest  embarrassment. 

DEVELOPING  SOCIAL  CONSCIOUSNESS 

Such  an  early  type  of  social  interest  must  be  contrasted 
with  the  type  of  social  interest  which  appears  during  the 
period  of  adolescence.  Here  again  the  youth  is  interested 
in  the  doings  of  society,  but  he  has  now  acquired  through 


496     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

experience  a  different  attitude  toward  society.  He  realizes 
that  people  about  him  who  work  with  tools  are  all  of  them 
working  at  a  much  higher  degree  of  perfection  than  he  is 
able  to  exhibit.  His  interests  are  therefore  not  merely  those 
of  imitative  effort;  his  interests  are  those  of  social  excel- 
lence. He  wishes  to  do  the  thing  as  well  as  someone  else 
does  it.  He  is  becoming  aware  of  the  standards  of  society, 
and  these  are  embarrassing  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
adolescent  age  is  a  period  of  extraordinary  clumsiness. 
It  would  be  out  of  keeping  with  the  facts  to  say  that  the 
adolescent  period  is  any  more  a  social  period  than  is  the 
period  of  early  childhood,  but  there  is  a  new  qualitative 
aspect  in  the  social  ambition  of  the  adolescent  youth  which 
marks  it  off  from  the  earlier  period  of  mere  imitation. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  INTERMEDIATE 
GRADES 

Furthermore,  there  lies  between  the  earlier  social  inter- 
est exhibited  by  the  child  in  the  primary  grades  and  the 
later  period  of  adolescence  an  intermediate  period  during 
which  the  interests  of  the  child  are  not  primarily  social. 
If  one  watches  the  development  of  the  children  in  the  ele- 
mentary school  he  finds  that  after  a  period  of  compliance 
with  all  sorts  of  social  demands  during  the  first  three  years 
of  school  life  little  children  begin  to  exhibit  a  type  of  inde- 
pendence which  they  do  not  exhibit  in  the  primary  grades. 
After  the  child  has  learned  to  read,  for  example,  in  the 
first  two  or  three  grades,  he  begins  to  be  independent  of 
the  school's  attitude  toward  reading,  and  he  begins  to  want 
to  read  something  for  himself.  The  type  of  material  which 
he  selects  becomes  more  independent  in  character,  and  he 
very  frequently  seems  to  be  out  of  joint  with  the  school's 
requirements.  It  can  be  shown  that  the  fourth  and  fifth 
grades  are  centers  of  the  greatest  incoordination  in  school 


PROBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     497 

work.  Children  fail  of  promotion  and  drop  out  of  school  in 
larger  percentage  than"  at  other  points  in  the  school  system. 
In  matters  of  discipline  the  fourth-grade  or  fifth-grade  boy 
is  likely  to  be  wholly  unsocial  in  his  attitudes.  During  the 
early  years  he  has  been  obedient  without  very  much  ques- 
tion. No  one  ever  finds  a  second-grade  or  third-grade  child 
insubordinate  to  the  school's  discipline,  but  in  the  interme- 
diate grades  the  child  begins  to  realize  his  independence  of 
society  by  trying  experiments  to  see  what  will  happen  if  he 
does  not  comply  with  the  rules  of  the  classroom. 

This  intermediate  period  is  also  one  of  great  interest  in 
the  material  things  of  the  world.  So  far  as  the  intermediate 
boy  is  interested  in  society,  it  is  chiefly  because  society  is 
producing  something  in  the  industries.  He  wants  to  get  out 
of  school  so  that  he  may  go  into  the  shop  or  go  into  business. 
He  has  a  large  interest  in  the  doings  of  men,  especially  in 
their  actual  productive  work  in  the  external  world.  He  has 
learned  in  the  lower  grades  something  of  society's  methods, 
and  he  now  begins  to  apply  these  methods  to  the  material 
things  about  him.  Out  of  all  this  independent  experiment- 
ing comes  a  vivid  realization  of  one's  own  personality  and 
of  the  standards  of  society  and  the  physical  world. 

THE  ADOLESCENT  PERIOD 

The  adolescent  period  which  follows  this  intermediate 
period  can  be  understood  only  by  realizing  that  the  adoles- 
cent period  is  immediately  preceded  by  a  period  during 
which  the  child  cultivates  a  very  high  degree  of  personal 
and  social  independence,  and  at  the  same  time  comes  to 
recognize  the  existence  and  the  importance  for  him  of  a 
physical  and  social  environment.  With  all  of  this  prelimi- 
nary training  the  adolescent  youth  also  has  impressed  upon 
him  the  lesson  that  he  must  very  shortly  take  a  part  in  the 
adult  activities  of  society.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  he  is  afraid 


498     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SU-BJECTS 

and  clumsy  ?  Is  it  surprising  that  he  becomes  moody  and 
introspective  ?  Evidently  the  adolescent  period  is  a  con- 
summation of  the  intellectual  development  through  which 
the  child  has  been  passing  for  long  years. 

The  productive  view  of  the  adolescent  period  is  there- 
fore not  that  view  which  emphasizes  the  break  between 
earlier  education  and  adolescent  training,  but  a  view  which 
finds  the  foundations  of  adolescent  character  in  the  changes 
passed  through  during  elementary  training. 

Fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age — the  period  at  which  the 
elementary  school  is  completed  by  the  ordinary  child  —  is  a 
period  when  the  changes  of  adolesc'ence  may  be  regarded  as 
so  far  completed  that  the  individual  child  already  realizes 
his  own  personality  in  terms  of  the  newer  adult  life  into 
which  he  is  to  enter.  The  necessity  of  recognizing  the  onset 
of  the  adolescent  period  somewhat  earlier  is  coming  to  be 
very  obvious  to  careful  students  of  educational  organiza- 
tion. We  have  seen  in  earlier  paragraphs  that  the  whole 
social  situation  within  the  high  school  has  been  so  modified 
in  recent  years  that  the  school  is  rapidly  freeing  itself  from 
the  traditional  difficulties  arising  from  a  breach  between  the 
elementary  and  high  schools.  Scientific  studies  point  most 
emphatically  to  the  necessity  of  explicitly  recognizing  the 
needs  of  adolescence  at  a  period  earlier  than  fourteen  years 
of  age.  It  is  true  that  children  of  fourteen  and  fifteen  years 
of  age  are  consciously  assuming  an  entirely  new  attitude 
toward  society.  It  is  equally  true  that  these  children  ought 
to  have  some  preparation  in  the  years  immediately  preced- 
ing fourteen  and  fifteen  for  the  new  type  of  work  and  the 
new  type  of  thought  which  they  are  to  take  up. 


PROBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     499 

ANTICIPATING  ADOLESCENT  NEEDS 

For  example,  in  the  matter  of  industrial  education  we  are 
beginning  to  be  aware  of  the  fact  that  a  boy  who  is  four- 
teen years  of  age  needs  to  be  prepared,  in  a  higher  degree 
than  he  now  is,  to  consider  intelligently  matters  of  vocation. 
We  are  keenly  aware  of  the  fact  that  boys  between  the  age 
of  fourteen  and  sixteen  are  not  provided  for  in  our  educa- 
tional system.  Consequently  we  are  making  frantic,  belated, 
and  ill-coordinated  efforts  to  provide  for  these  young  people 
some  sort  of  industrial  education.  But  if  a  boy  of  fourteen 
about  to  enter  upon  industrial  life  is  in  need  of  training, 
certainly  the  boy  of  twelve  needs  to  have  some  training  in 
the  methods  of  anticipating  the  crucial  difficulties  which  he 
is  to  encounter  when  he  is  two  years  older.  Twelve  years 
of  age  is  the  crucial  period,  physically  and  morally  and 
intellectually.  We  cannot  do  the  work  of  training  adoles- 
cent youth  by  waiting  until  the  period  is  well  advanced. 
In  the  first  place,  under  our  present  social  system  many  of 
these  youths  will  escape  from  the  control  and  guidance  of 
the  educational  authorities.  In  any  case  we  should  recog- 
nize the  fact  that  intellectually,  as  well  as  physically,  the 
period  of  rapid  growth  is  one  of  maturing  powers  which  have 
been  gradually  developing  in  an  earlier  period.  The  impa- 
tience of  boys  and  girls  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades 
with  a  mere  continuance  of  the  elementary  curriculum  ought 
long  ago  to  have  drawn  the  attention  of  teachers  to  the  fact 
that  a  new  mode  of  administration  is  required  for  these  years; 
and  new  subject  matter  is  required  if  instruction  is  to  serve 
the  purpose  of  bridging  over  the  education  of  the  primary 
years  and  making  it  available  as  a  preparation  for  entrance 
into  the  adolescent  mode  of  thought  and  action. 


500     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

THE  HIGHER  ELEMENTARY  GRADES 

To  some  extent  this  demand  is  being  met.  The  mode  of 
organizing  the  work  of  the  last  two  years  of  the  elementary 
school  has  commonly  been  different  from  the  mode  of  organ- 
ization which  appears  in  the  lower  grades,  but  too  frequently 
the  subject  matter  of  instruction  in  the  upper  grades  has 
not  been  properly  modified  to  correspond  to  the  changes  in 
the  modes  of  administering  this  work.  Departmental  organ- 
ization has  prevailed  in  the  upper  years,  but  tjie  subject 
matter  canvassed  by  the  departmental  teachers  has  been 
much  like  the  subject  matter  of  the  grades  below.  Further- 
more, in  some  cases  the  educational  device  of  a  review  of 
the  earlier  work  has  been  adopted  as  the  only  means  of  fill- 
ing up  these  last  two  years  of  the  elementary  school.  The 
eighth  grade  begins  very  commonly  with  a  review  of  all 
that  has  been  done  in  the  lower  grades  before  the  small 
amount  of  new  material  permitted  in  this  grade  is  added  to 
that  which  has  been  administered  in  the  first  seven  years. 
After  a  little  additional  material  is  given  in  the  eighth  grade, 
the  last  months  of  this  grade  are  once  more  devoted  to  a 
careful  restudy  of  all  of  the  earlier  work,  in  order  that  the 
students  who  go  into  the  high  school  may  be  sent  on  with 
a  preparation  which  will  omit  nothing  of  the  elements  that 
have  been  taken  up  in  the  elementary  school.  High-school 
teachers  have  very  frequently  been  skeptical  even  after  this 
careful  reviewing,  and  have  commenced  the  work  of  the' 
high  school  with  still  another  review  so  as  to  make  sure 
that  the  work  of  the  eighth  grade  has  been  properly  done. 
All  of  this  repetition  of  matter  has  disappointed  and  dis- 
couraged the  students,  so  that  many  of  them  withdraw  in 
the  later  years  of  the  elementary  school  or  in  the  early  years 
of  the  high  school  from  sheer  exhaustion  and  lack  of  inter- 
est in  the  repetitious  matter  which  the  school  offers  them. 


PKOBLEMS  OF  SECONDABY  EDUCATION     501 

REOBGANIZATION  KEQUIBED  TO  ADAPT  SCHOOL  TO 
ADOLESCENTS 

If  instead  of  this  failure  on  the  part  of  the  schools  to 
recognize  the  oncoming  adolescent  period  we  could  have  a 
clear  recognition  of  the  possibilities  of  productive  work  in 
the  seventh  and  eighth  grades,  there  would  be  a  general  and 
radical  change  in  the  content  of  the  course  of  study  and  in 
the  method  of  instruction  with  a  definite  view  to  carrying 
the  children  along  at  a  more  rapid  and  efficient  rate.  The 
experiment  has  several  times  been  tried  in  this  country  of 
deliberately  reducing  the  length  of  the  elementary-school 
course  and  turning  children  at  an  earlier  age  into  the  work 
which  has  commonly  been  thought  of  as  belonging  to  the 
high  school. l  The  difficulty  with  any  such  change  as  this  is 
the  prejudice  on  the  part  of  teachers  and  parents  against  any 
modification  of  existing  practices.  Where  the  experiment 
has  been  tried  in  single  subjects  it  has  sometimes  failed. 
For  example,  there  are  cases  in  which  arithmetic  was  given 
up  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  and  an  attempt  made 
to  introduce  algebra.  Disastrous  results  have  followed  in 
some  of  these  cases,  because  algebra  in  its  common  form 
is  so  abstract  that  children  do  not  succeed  in  taking  it  up 
as  readily  as  they  do  more  concrete  work.  We  have  said 
enough  in  an  earlier  chapter  about  the  possibility  of  modify- 
ing mathematics  to  make  it  clear  that  the  algebra  which  is 
commonly  offered  in  the  high  school  is  not  suitable  material 
either  for  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  or  for  the  high 
school  itself.  If  we  could  have,  however,  a  reformulation  of 
this  subject,  with  emphasis  upon  those  productive  elements 
of  the  work  which  would  be  suitable  for  first-year  high- 
school  students,  we  might  expect  also  to  cure  some  of  the 
difficulties  which  have  appeared  when  teachers  have  simply 

1MA  Seven-year  Elementary  School,"  Elementary  School  Teacher, 
1913,  Vol.  XIII,  p.  274. 


502    PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

carried  back  into  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  in  unmodified 
form  a  single  subject  from  the  high-school  curriculum.  The 
cure  for  such  failures  is  not  greater  conservatism  but  greater 
radicalism.  There  ought  to  be  a  recasting  of  subjects,  and 
there  ought  to  be  a  sufficiently  general  importation  of  ad- 
vanced work  into  the  upper  grades  of  the  elementary  school 
to  put  an  end  to  the  timidity  of  both  teachers  and  students. 
This  greater  radicalism  will  not  lead  to  a  break  in  the 
school  organization ;  it  will  tend  to  cure  a  breach  that 
has  been  traditional. 

In  methods  of  administering  studies  there  has  commonly 
been  a  very  great  abruptness  in  the  change  from  elementary 
to  secondary  education.  During  the  elementary  period  chil- 
dren have  been  allowed  to  depend  entirely  upon  their  books 
for  assignments ;  and  the  recitation  has  commonly  been  of  a 
sort  which  emphasized  mere  repetition  of  the  work  which  has 
been  assigned.  In  the  high  school  the  child  has  found  him- 
self suddenly  called  upon  to  listen  to  lectures  and  to  depend 
upon  himself  very  much  more  fully  for  his  methods  of  work 
and  for  the  arrangement  of  his  own  study  program.  This 
break  between  the  high  school  and  the  elementary  school 
has  been  a  subject  of  frequent  comment.  Would  it  not 
seem  rational,  with  the  break  distinctly  in  mind,  to  spend 
some  time  and  energy  in  the  later  years  of  the  elementary 
schools  preparing  the  students  for  the  transition  ?  If  instead 
of  conducting  a  uniform,  required  course  during  the  last 
two  years  of  the  elementary  school  the  student  could  be 
induced  to  elect  certain  subjects  and  to  take  some  degree 
of  responsibility  under  guidance,  would  it  not  be  possible 
to  come  up  to  the  elective  work  of  the  high  school  with  a 
much  better  training  and  preparation  for  the  advantageous 
acceptance  of  the  new  opportunities  there  offered  ?  If  the 
high-school  student  is  to  study  independently,  are  not  all  of 
the  principles  discussed  in  the  last  chapter  highly  important 
for  the  seventh  and  eighth  years  ? 


PROBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     503 

THE  JUNIOR  HIGH-SCHOOL  MOVEMENT 

These  arguments  for  a  change  in  the  character  of  the 
organization  of  the  school  have  been  so  widely  discussed  in 
recent  years  that  many  schools  have  undertaken  to  organize 
junior  high  schools.  The  difficulty  in  many  cases  with  these 
junior  high  schools  is  that  they  do  not  represent  any  genu- 
ine modification  either  of  the  course  of  study  or  of  the  mode 
of  treating  children.  Very  frequently  a  junior  high  school 
is  nothing  except  the  seventh  and  eighth  grades  of  the  ele- 
mentary school  carried  over  into  the  high-school  building, 
or  otherwise  designated  by  a  name  which  would  seem  to 
indicate  a  new  type  of  organization,  but  which  in  reality 
merely  continues  earlier  practices  under  a  new  designation. 
There  is  absolutely  no  justification  for  the  use  of  the  term 
"  junior  high  school "  if  the  type  of  work  carried  on  in  the 
junior  high  school  is  exactly  the  same  as  that  done  in  the 
seventh  and  eighth  grades.  If  elementary  subject  matter 
and  elementary  methods  are  employed  between  twelve  and 
fourteen  years  of  age,  then  let  us  recognize  the  fact  that 
the  school  is  an  elementary  school. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  arguments  in  favor  of  a  new 
type  of  organization  are  sufficiently  cogent  to  make  it  clear 
that  radical  changes  ought  to  be  made,  then  such  changes 
ought  to  be  of  a  type  which  will  influence  the  whole  educa- 
tional machinery  and  will  explicitly  recognize  the  importance 
of  the  coming  period  of  adolescence. 

THE  EARLY  YEARS  OF  COLLEGE  ARE  SECONDARY 
IN  CHARACTER 

The  unsolved  problems  of  adolescence  are  not  alone 
the  problems  of  the  upper  grades  of  the  elementary  school. 
College  courses  of  the  first  two  years  are  many  of  them 
distinctly  secondary  in  type.  Every  American  college  has 


504     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

elementary  courses  in  languages,  history,  and  science.  There 
is  often  the  most  unjustifiable  duplication,  as  in  the  Eng- 
lish courses.  This  elementary  college  work  is  for  the  most 
part  administered  by  methods  appropriate  only  to  advanced 
courses.  The  result  is  deplorable.  Students  go  from  the 
high  school  with  incipient  habits  of  study  and  some  intellec- 
tual interests  and  encounter  a  situation  in  college  classes 
which  stimulates  little  or  not  at  all  to  earnest  endeavor,  and 
gives  even  to  the  serious  student  a  minimum  of  guidance 
in  the  art  of  study.  The  four-year  high-school  course  is  not 
long  enough  to  carry  the  burden  of  secondary  education. 
Students  now  go  to  college  immature  and  unable  to  meet 
the  expectation  of  those  who  aim  in  the  college  to  encourage 
specialization. 

Readjustment  is  here  beset  with  great  difficulties.  The 
colleges  of  the  country  are  not  as  free  as  the  high  school 
to  make  changes  in  their  organization.  We  may  look  for- 
ward to  a  period  of  transition  during  which  the  college  will 
struggle  to  retain  its  present  domain.  The  high  school  in 
the  meantime  is  steadily  reaching  the  point  where  it  will 
do  the  work  under  public  control  which  has  up  to  this  time 
been  carried  on,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  freshman  and 
sophomore  years  of  private  institutions.  The  problem  of 
adolescent  training  includes  such  work  as  has  been  adminis- 
tered up  to  this  time  in  the  early  college  classes,  and  this 
work  must  be  articulated  more  closely  with  the  rest  of  the 
high-school  course. 

REFORM  URGENTLY  NEEDED  IN  INTERESTS  OP  ECONOMY 

If  there  were  no  other  motive  than  economy  compelling 
us  to  canvass  these  problems,  that  motive  would  be  strong 
enough  to  bring  serious  students  to  a  clear  consciousness 
of  the  fact  that  the  high  school  has  a  new  problem  to  work 
out  As  it  is  now,  pupils  from  twelve  to  fourteen  years  of 


PROBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     505 

age  waste  much  time  in  review.  From  fourteen  to  eighteen 
they  get  a  brief  secondary  course.  From  eighteen  to  twenty 
they  mix  secondary  work  with  advanced  courses  and  repeat 
in  part  the  work  of  the  high  school,  and  wonder  what  they 
are  to  do  next.  These  eight  years  result  in  training  which 
every  other  civilized  nation  accomplishes  in  six.  It  is  time 
that  we  shook  ourselves  loose  from  tradition  and  an  in- 
coordinated  scheme  of  training,  and  organized  a  secondary 
school  which  shall  do  fully  and  efficiently  in  six  years  the 
full  work  of  training  adolescents. 

THE  PRINCIPLE  OP  INDIVIDUAL  DIFFERENCES 

There  are  certain  general  principles  which  should  guide 
in  bringing  about  these  radical  changes.  In  the  first  place, 
the  adolescent  period  is  one  of  clear  recognition  and  em- 
phasis of  individual  differences.  The  elementary  course  is 
constructed  on  the  general  theory  that  there  are  certain 
fundamental  forms  of  knowledge  which  must  be  had  by 
every  member  of  society.  Everyone  must  learn  to  read  and 
write.  Everyone  must  learn  the  elements  of  arithmetic, 
geography,  and  some  of  the  other  fundamental  forms  of  ex- 
perience. But  when  we  come  to  the  high-school  period,  it 
is  perfectly  clear  that  individual  differences  have  a  right  to 
exhibit  themselves,  and  must  be  recognized  as  major  con- 
siderations hi  the  organization  of  the  school  course.  We 
should  have  a  recognition,  on  the  one  hand,  of  industrial 
interests ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  of  professional  interests. 
For  some  students  we  should  emphasize  science  and  its 
applications ;  for  others,  literary  studies.  There  should  be 
such  a  modification  of  general  courses  in  history  as  to 
appeal  not  only  to  those  who  are  going  into  history  as  a 
specialty  in  the  later  schools  but  also  to  those  who  are  not 
going  on  with  the  study.  In  short,  the  work  of  the  second- 
ary school  should  be  organized  from  the  beginning  with  a 


506     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

clear  recognition  of  the  differences  in  capacity  and  inter- 
ests of  the  various  members  of  the  class.  Progress  in  the 
different  subjects  with  different  individuals  ought  also  to 
be  at  different  rates.  A  breaking  up  of  the  class,  not- 
only  with  reference  to  the  subject  matter  to  be  studied 
but  also  with  reference  to  the  rate  of  progress  through 
these  subjects,  is  highly  important  as  a  natural  concession 
to  individual  differences. 


As  a  corollary  of  the  principle  of  individual  differences, 
or,  perhaps  better,  as  a  second  independent  principle,  we 
must  emphasize  the  necessity  of  giving  to  each  student  in- 
troductory courses  in  all  the  major  fields  of  human  expe- 
rience. Later  life  will  demand  specialization ;  the  period  of 
adolescence  is  one  of  general  training  in  anticipation  of 
the  period  of  specialization. 

BEGINNING  OF  SPECIALIZATION 

The  discussion  of  this  principle  of  general  .training  in 
many  fields  may  be  coupled  with  the  discussion  of  a  third 
general  principle  which  is  important  in  secondary  education, 
but  is  likely  to  be  lost  sight  of  unless  it  is  given  explicit 
attention  at  the  beginning  of  the  course. ;  namely,  the  princi- 
ple of  continuity  of  work.  It  is  advantageous  for  students 
that  they  should  take  a  variety  of  different  subjects  only 
when  this  spreading  over  many  subjects  in  the  curriculum 
is  so  administered  as  to  insure  that  each  student  shall  get 
some  coherent  study  which  will  equip  him  for  later  concen- 
tration. It  is  now  difficult,  in  the  four  years  which  are  de- 
voted to  the  high  school,  to  satisfy  both  the  demand  for 
diversity  of  subject  matter  and  also  the  demand  for  cohe- 
rence of  work.  If  the  student  has  only  four  years  in  the 
high  school  and  is  expected  to  cover  all  the  major  fields 


PROBLEMS  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION     507 

of  knowledge,  it  is  evident  that  his  energy  will  be  very 
largely  dissipated.  One  of  the  reasons  why  the  languages 
are  having  a  good  deal  of  difficulty  at  the  present  time  in 
maintaining  a  position  in  the  program  is  that  they  demand 
so  large  a  portion  of  the  high-school  students'  time  that  it 
is  felt  both  by  parents  and  by  the  students  themselves  to 
be  irrational  to  devote  so  much  of  a  brief  high-school  course 
to  the  study  of  a  single  subject.  If  now  the  period  of  sec- 
ondary training  is  extended  to  six  years,  there  is  a  possibility 
of  combining  the  two  principles  of  diversity  of  training  and 
coherence  of  courses  in  a  very  much  more  advantageous 
fashion.  There  will  be  six  years  instead  of  four  through 
which  the  diversity  of  interest  may  be  spread.  The  clear 
recognition  of  the  principle  will  lead  high-school  teachers 
to  present  to  students  certain  general  courses  which  general 
courses  will  supply  the  ordinary  members  of  the  student 
body  with  a  view  of  the  various  subjects  in  which  they 
ought  to  be  interested,  but  in  which  they  are  not  expected 
to  make  exhaustive  studies.  In  the  earlier  pages  of  this 
volume  this  recommendation  was  made  even  in  the  extreme 
form,  that  certain  short  general  courses  be  organized  to  give 
students  some  notion  of  languages  other  than  their  mother 
tongue.  It  has  been  suggested  that  general  science  might 
serve  a  very  useful  purpose  in  giving  a  view  of  the  funda- 
mental methods  of  scientific  operation.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  mathematics  courses  be  amalgamated  in  such  a  way  that 
a  student  may  in  one  year  get  some  notion  of  both  algebra  and 
geometry.  These  suggestions  are  in  keeping  both  with  the 
natural  development  of  the  subjects  themselves  and  with 
the  tendencies  that  are  appearing  in  secondary  schools. 

At  the  same  time  one  must  emphasize  the  great  impor- 
tance of  giving  students  a  coherent  body  of  courses  in  some 
one  or  two  lines.  It  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  fill  up  the 
high-school  course  with  general,  summary  courses,  merely 
introducing  the  student  to  lines  of  thought  and  bodies  of 


508     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 

material.  Parallel  with  these  general  courses  distributing 
the  student's  interests,  there  should  be  sequent  courses  which 
will  concentrate  his  interests.  Undoubtedly  the  great  virtue 
of  the  older  required  course  of  study  in  the  high  school 
was  exactly  this,  that  it  concentrated  the  student's  time 
and  energy  very  definitely  upon  certain  limited  subjects, 
with  the  result  that  four  years  of  consecutive  work  devel- 
oped an  ability  of  concentration  in  one  field  which  undoubt- 
edly influenced  all  of  his  later  study  and  work.  There  is 
very  little  probability  of  our  returning  to  the  required 
course  of  the  earlier  high  school.  That  has  sometimes  been 
suggested  by  those  who  are  critical  of  our  present  mode  of 
organization.  The  difficulty  with  the  required  course  was 
that  it  designated  for  each  individual  student  the  lines  in 
which  he  should  concentrate.  Our  elective  program  has 
made  it  clear  that  we  are  going  to  organize  our  high  schools 
in  such  a  way  that  concentration  will  not  be  required  of 
students  in  any  single  predetermined  line.  Let  the  student 
select  the  lines  in  which  he  is  interested,  but  after  he  has 
begun  work  see  to  it  that  he  follows  some  lines  with  suffi- 
cient energy  and  devotion  to  insure  continuous  and  coherent 
training.  This  is  not  a  compromise  with  the  old  required 
course ;  it  is  a  recognition  of  the  cardinal  virtue  of  that 
course,  and  a  reformulation  of  that  virtue  in  terms  of  the 
elective  organization  which  has  undoubtedly  come  to  stay 
as  a  part  of  our  school  organization. 

To  these  three  psychological  principles  may  be  added  a 
fourth  general  social  principle,  which,  has  already  been  am- 
plified in  earlier  paragraphs  ;  namely,  the  principle  that  the 
duty  of  a  democratic  secondary  school  is  not  to  eliminate 
students,  but  to  guide  them  into  courses  which  they  can  take 
with  advantage.  The  recognition  of  this  last  principle  will 
have  the  largest  influence  upon  the  methods  of  work  of  stu- 
dents and  teachers,  and  must  therefore  be  included  in  any 
summary  of  the  psychological  conditions  of  high-school  work. 


INDEX 


Abstraction     ...    48,  49,  70,  96 

advantages  of 101 

in  algebra 117 

dangers  of 100 

mathematical 101 

in  mathematics    .    .    .     129,  131 

in  science 336 

and  words 98 

Adaptation  through  theory    .    270 

Adding  devices 93 

Administration  of  courses  in 

industry 296 

Adolescence    ....     7,  492,  497 
Adults    and    study    of    lan- 
guage   221 

Agriculture,  courses  in  ...    299 

in  high  schools 478 

Aim  of  instruction     ....    424 

Algebra  4 

abstract 117 

applications  of 451 

and  arithmetic    .    .    .     107,  112 
definition  of    ....      95,  103 

history  of 21 

relative  difficulty  of    ...      82 

simplified Ill 

Allen,  J.  G 377 

Alphabet,  evolution  of   .    .    .    151 

Analysis 15,  97 

absence  of 258 

in  drawing 322 

in  education 262 

in  geometry 50,  69 

grammatical 219 

and  habit     .......    260 

lack  of,  in  habits     ....    253 

in  music 356 

psychological 466 

Application     ...       66,  423,  450 

and  generalization  ....    421 

Applications,  of  algebra     .    .    114 

of  geometry 84 

of  history 389 


through  language    ....  278 
of  mathematics   ...      23,  130 

of  science 332 

Appreciation 184 

in  art 362 

instruction  in 201 

of  pictures 367 

training  of 353 

Aristotle 2 

Arithmetic  ....       21,  107,  112 

Art,  graphic 357 

Arts,  fine 345 

Athletics 470 

Attendance  on  high  schools  .  476 

Attention 29 

to  generalization     ....  434 

and  specialization   ....  314 

Attitudes 430 

Axioms 69,  77 

Ayer,  F.  C 321 

Bagley,  W.  C 415,  425 

Bahlsen,  L 211,  241 

Baker,  F.  T 5,  398 

Ball,  W.  W.  R 92 

Barbour,  F.  A 163 

Behavior,  and  analysis  .    .    .    264 
and  appreciation     ....    187 

generalized 417 

and  language 429 

language  as  form  of    ...    138 

speech 150 

Bennett,  C.  E 211,  225 

Berkeley 137 

Boas,  F 347 

Boisbaudran,  L.  de     .    .    321,  367 
Books,  use  of,  in  study  .    .    .    442 

Bovee,  A.  G 222 

Breslich,  E.  R 124 

Bricker,  G.  A 300 

Bristol,  G.  P 211,  226 

Brooks,  E.  C 476 

Burgess 242 


509 


510     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 


Caldwell 318 

Carpenter,  G.  R 6,  174 

Carter,  C.  M 367 

Characterology 6 

Chicago  City  Club  Report      .  285 

Chronological  judgments   .    .  380 
Chubb,  Percival      ....    5,  166 

Church,  H.  V 207 

Cicero  High  School    ....  207 
Classics,  controversy 

relating  to 214 

Classification  and  words     .    .  99 

Classroom  observation    ...  11 
Classroom  observations 

63,  116,  182,  246 

in  algebra 120 

of  study 440 

Coherent  courses 607 

College  and  secondary  school  504 

Colvin,  S.  S 4 

Commercial  courses    ....  287 

standards  in 292 

Committee  of  Five      374,  383,  386 

Committee  of  Seven  ....  377 
Committee  of  Ten  .     392,  398,  480 

Committee  of  Twelve     .    .    .  217 

Common  schools 475 

Communication,  evolution  of  142 

Comparison 42,  55 

of  numbers 92 

Competition 441 

Composition 170 

oral 180 

Concentration 441 

Concrete,  the 106 

Consciousness  in  habits  .    .    .  253 

Consistency,  criterion  of    .    .  309 

Content  and  form 402 

reactions  to 197 

Continuity  of  education     .    .  265 

Controls,  sensory 254 

tactual 255 

visual 257 

Convention 143 

and  words 148 

Correlation,  in  grades    .    .    .  409 

and  history 390 

Course  of  high  school  enriched  478 

Course  of  study 3 

literary 133 

Courtis,  S.  A 452 

Cowling,  D.  J 25 


Critical  judgments  in  history  384 

Criticism,  origin  of     ....  308 

Curiosity  and  science     .    .    .  331 

Curricula,  in  history  ....  371 

in  science 458 

Curriculum  in  science    ...  317 

Dates,  teaching  of 381 

Definitions,  in  geometry  46,  64,  59 

logical 59 

DeMille 175 

Demonstrations  in  geometry.       60 

Descartes 6,  22 

Design 361 

Differences.   See  Individual 

differences 
Difficulties  in  algebra     .    .    .    120 

Digits  in  counting 92 

Dimensions  of  space  ....      40 
Direct  behavior  and  words    .    155 
Direct  method    ....    224,  240 
Discipline  (see  Formal  disci- 
pline)    403 

Discourse,  forms  of  ....  178 
Discrimination  of  tones  .  .  348 
Discriminations  and  words  .  236 

Distraction 469 

Distribution  of  students     485,  508 

Domestic  courses 297 

Dow,  A.  W .368 

Dramatization 387 

Draper,  S 289 

Drawing 9,  357 

recognition  of 27 

and  science 321 

Drum  in  music 348 

Duncan,  C.  S 135 

Economy,  in  school  work  .    .  504 

in  study .  499 

Efficiency 6,  268 

Elaboration 464 

Elementary  school    '  .    .    .    .  494 
Elementary  schools,  reorgan- 
ized    501 

Elimination 13,  608 

of  students 486 

Emotion,  and  appreciation    .  185 

and  generalization  ....  429 

Emotions 191 

and  language 139 

English 6 


INDEX 


511 


English  course 162 

English  courses  ......  134 

reorganization  of  ....  209 

English  Journal 5 

English  standards 488 

Errors  through  ideas  ....  279 

Essentials 463 

Euclid 20 

Euclidean  geometry  ....  100 

Evans,  M.  B 211,  241 

Evidence,  historical  ....  384 

Examinations  in  England  .  .  488 

Examples  in  algebra  ....  110 

Experience  in  teaching  ...  14 

Experiment,  psychological  268,  319 

Experiments,  in  geometry  .  61 

in  psychology 25 

Expression,  facial 142 

vocal 144 

Eye  movements  in  reading  .  153 

Failures 17 

Figures,  solid 44 

Fine  arts 345 

Finley 319 

Form  and  content 402 

reactions  to 196 

Formal  discipline 

4,  80,  81,  301,  392 

Formalism 420 

in  English   .    .    .     165,  172,  199 

in  science 326 

Freeman,  F.  N 254,  284 

Frey,  0 284 

Gallon,  Sir  Francis    ....  6 
General  course 
in  language     ....    216,  245 

in  science 318 

General  courses 506 

General  habits 429 

General  science 318 

Generalization    ....    344,  392 

in  geometry 60 

and  language 427 

methods  of 432 

and  transfer 412 

Geometry,  and  algebra  .    .    .  108 

as  formal  science    ....  40 

history  of 20 

relative  difficulty  of    ...  82 

German  .                                 .  459 


German  standards 486 

Gestures 142 

Gideon,  A 227 

Gillette,  J.  M. 289 

Girls,  vocational  courses  for  .  297 

Graded  exercises 239 

Grades,  higher 500 

intermediate 496 

Graham,  J.  W 453 

Grammar 163 

Grammatical  method     .    .    .  217 

Grammatical  structures     .    .  188 

Graph 41 

Greek,  Hadley  on 400 

Group  study 447 

Gymnasium 486 

Habit 252,  258 

Habits 4,  427,  431 

grammatical 237 

Hadley,  A.  T 400 

Hall,  E.  H 338 

Hall,  G.  S 7,  167,  493 

Hammer,  sensations  from  .  .  255 

Handschin,  C.  N 10 

Hanus,  P.  H 294 

Harmony 351 

Harper 242 

Hart,  A.  B 374 

Haskins 372 

Hawkes,  H.  E 108 

Heck,  W.  H 394 

Henderson,  E.  N 425 

Herbartians 404 

and  correlation 390 

History 370 

applications  of 451 

sequence  in 457 

High  school,  characteristics  of  474 

Hinsdale,  B.  A 392 

Hobhouse,  L.  T 426 

Hosic,  J.  F 166,  173 

Hummel,  W.  G.  and  B.  R.  .  .  300 

Hunter,  G.  W 318 

Hygiene,  mental 467 

Idea  of  number  ......  90 

Ideas,  abstract 49 

and  error 279 

and  learning 277 

method  of  developing     .    .  54 

play  of 279 


512     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 


Ideas,  and  practice     ....    307 

of  space 86 

systems  of 325 

verbal 47 

Identical  elements 414 

Illusion 31 

Images,  and  reactions    .    .    .    234 

and  words 136 

Imagery 79 

and  language 227 

and  words 156,  230 

Imagination  277,  305,  307,  310,  341 

in  history 386 

Imitation 222 

and  language 140 

Inductive  method  of  language 

teaching 242 

Individual  differences      6, 193,  454 

Individual  study 437 

Industrial  arts 358 

Industrial  courses 248 

Industrial  history 388 

Industry,  courses  in  ....    285 

and  education 281 

and  ideas     .......    827 

psychology  of 264 

and  science      ....    290,  306 

.Initiative 447 

i  Interest,  psychology  of  ...    219 

Interests,  scientific,  in  children  319 

;  Intermediate  grades  ....    496 

1  Interpretations 204 

James,  William  .    .     191,  218,  413 

James-Lange  theory  ....  191 

jjennings 39 

Jespersen,  0 225 

Judgment,  practical   ....  426 

.Judgments,  causal 383 

chronological 880 

in  English 182 

Junior  high  school 603 

Kelsey,  F.  W 4,  212 

Kerschensteiner,  G.    .    .    .    .    266 

King,  1 469 

Kron,  R.     . 226 

Laboratory    exercises,     psy- 
chology of 339 

Laboratory  methods  in  science  338 

Language,  and  adaptation     .  278 


as  behavior 188 

and  emotions 139 

foreign 211 

general  course 507 

and  generalization  ....  427 

versus  practical  arts    .    .    .  247 
psychology  of  ....     133,  136 

and  science 343 

teaching 10 

and  theory 273 

Lapses 29 

Law,  scientific 342 

Latin 4,  133,  449,  459 

Learning,  animal 275 

habit  of 259 

higher  forms  of 276 

primitive 275 

Leavitt,  F.  M. 289 

Literary  course  of  study    .    .  183 

Literature 184 

Locke 137 

Logic  and  geometry   ....  20 

Logical  criteria 309 

Logical  order 52 

Logical  processes 64 

Lounsbury,  T.  R 171 

Lowell,  James  Russell    .    .    .  225 

Luard,  L.  D 368 

Luby,  W.  A 108 

McArthur,  A 266 

Manchester,  A.  L 365 

Mann,  C.  R 4,  396 

Manual  arts,  in  education  .    .  266 

and  science 284 

Manual  training 248 

Mathematics 17 

combined 22,  125 

principles  of  reorganization  129 

reorganization  of     ....  123 

teste 452 

Meaning  through  context  .    .  239 

Measurement 12 

and  numbers 94 

Mechanics 87,  57 

Melody 351 

Memory 70,  76,  82 

in  art 321 

in  history 379 

Method,  direct,  of  language 

teaching 224 

grammatical 217 


INDEX 


513 


inductive,  of  language  teach- 
ing     242 

laboratory 338 

natural,  of  language  teach- 
ing      221 

psychological,  of  language 

teaching 226 

of  raising  problems     .    .    .  446 

scientific 12,  340 

of  teaching  applications .    .  460 
Methods,  of  inducing  general- 
ization   432 

of  psychology 10 

scientific,  in  education    .    .  16 

of  study 436 

of  teaching 64,  121 

of  teaching  music   ....  356 
Mistakes,  pedagogical  treat- 
ment of 68 

Models,  use  of     .....    44,  79 

Modern  language 469 

Monroe 372 

Moore,  E.  H 22 

Moors  and  algebra 21 

'Moral  judgments  in  history   .  378 

Morrison,  H.  C 123 

Movement,  and  space     ...  36 

reduction  of 164 

sensations  of 32 

Muller,  Max 146 

Murray,  Lindley 174 

Music,  historical  beginnings  .  346 

in  schools 365 

in  Volksschule 364 

Mythology 304,  311 

Nationalism  as  aim  of  history  376 

Natural  signs 143 

Nature  study 319 

Nervous  organization     .    .    .  262 

Non-Euclidean  geometry   .    .  100 

Number,  ideas  of 93 

origin  of 90 

Numerals 21 

Observation  in  classrooms .    .  11 

Oral  composition 180 

Organization,  of  experience  .  72 

school 296 

Originals  in  geometry    ...  62 

O'Shea,  M.  J 394 

Overstimulation 468 


Pageant,  historical     ....    388 

Pearson,  K 840 

Perception,  versus  logic  ...     66 

and  reasoning 43 

of  space 26 

Personification   ......    306 

Perspective  in  drawing  .  .  .  360 
Pleasure,  nature  of  ....  88 

Postulates 59,  77 

Practical  judgment    ....    426 

Practical  methods 66 

Practice 280 

experiments  on 268 

and  ideas 307 

and  theory  .....    262,  274 

Problem,  method  of  teaching    444 

teaching  in  science ....    328 

Problems,  discovery  of  ...    444 

Program,  study 461 

Progression,  in  courses  .    464,  606 

in  science 468 

Pronunciation 222 

Psychological  order  ....  62 
Psychological  problems  .  .  .  9,  74 
Psychology,  applications  of  .  2,  8 

definition  of 1,  2 

of  language  teaching  ...    211 

methods  of 10,  11 

scope  of 8 

of  study 437 

Questions 441,  443 

Rate  of  study 439 

Reactions,  and  appreciation  .    353 

appreciative 203 

and  enjoyment 348 

to  form  and  content   .    .    .    196 

refine  images 234 

and  rhetorical  forms  .    .    .    190 

and  words 231 

Reading 163,  168 

rate  of 440 

Reasoning 42,  73,  276 

in  algebra 117 

in  geometry 66,  67 

and  perception 43 

Reavis,  W.  C 462 

Refraction  in  educational  ex- 
periment   269 

Regrading  of  mathematics  .  131 
Relational  consciousness  33, 41, 130 


514     PSYCHOLOGY  OF  HIGH-SCHOOL  SUBJECTS 


Reorganization  of  English     .  209 

Reviews 466 

unproductive 500 

Rhetoric 175 

Rhythm 184 

in  music 347 

in  style 185 

Roark,  R.  N 395 

Robinson,  H.  N 108 

Robison,  C.  H 300 

Rouse,  W.  H.  D 240 

Rowland,  Eleanor  H.     ...  157 

Saw,  sensations  from     .    .    .  255 

Scale,  musical 352 

Schultze,  Arthur 

4,  22,  75,  77,  79,  80,  82 

Schweitzer,  C 229 

Science,  general  course      .    .  507 

and  handwork 282 

and  industry   ....    290,  327 

and  manual  arts 284 

and  practical  courses .    .    .  298 

psychology  of 303 

sequence  in 458 

and  specialization  ....  313 

Scientific  method 340 

Scientific  methods  in  educa- 
tion    16 

Scott,  F.  N.     .    .    .    .    5,  173,  174 

Seeley 375 

Self-adjustment 453 

Sensation  and  space   ....  31 

Sensations,  of  movement   .    .  32 

in  typewriting 258 

Sentence  appreciation    .    .    .  188 

Sentences,  psychology  of   .    .  160 
Sequence 

in  courses    ...     317,  456,  507 

in  history 373,  457 

Seven-year  school 501 

Sievers,  G.  E 184,  203 

Signs,  natural 143 

Singing 356 

Skill,  psychology  of    ....  252 

and  theory 272 

Smith,  A 338 

Smith,  David  E.      .  81,  83,  87, 125 

Snedden,  David  ....    250,  267 

Social  activities 470 

Social  aid  in  study     ....  124 

Social  aids 68 

Social  consciousness   .            .  495 


Social  criticism 308 

Social  imitation 140 

Social  organization  and  lan- 
guage     149 

Social  readjustments  ....  474 

Social  study 437,  447 

Solid  geometry   . 44 

Sound  and  meaning   ....  146 

Space 130 

in  algebra 109 

character  of    t 34 

empty 32 

in  geometry 45,  56 

homogeneous 50 

psychology  of 24 

Space  ideas 50 

Space  perception    ....    25,  30 
Specialization      282,  294,  313,  506 

in  English 166 

Speculation 312 

Speed,  emphasis  on    ....  286 

in  study 439 

Stages  of  development   .    .    .  494 
Standards    ...     12,  14,  479,  484 

in  art 349 

democratic 490 

in  education 292 

English 488 

German 486 

in  measurement 95 

of  study 453 

Statistics  of  high  school     .    .  476 

Stout,  G.  F 136 

Study  (see  Supervised  study)  123 

methods  of  teaching   .    .    .  436 

program 461 

Style,  psychology  of  ....  194 

Subject  matter 460 

Subjective  character  of  art    .  350 

Superposition  as  method    .    .  68 

Supervised  study    .     123,  436,  462 

Survey  method  of  study     .    .  439 

Symbolism  in  art 359 

Symbols 48,  101 

general 104 

Symmetry 37,  57 

System  in  art 349 

Tallies 90 

Taylor,  1 151 

Teachers  in  practical  courses  288 

Technical  schools 479 

Technique  and  appreciation  .  353 


INDEX 


515 


Temperaments 6 

Tests  in  mathematics     .    .    .  452 

Textbook,  in  algebra  ....  108 

on  geometry 46 

Textbooks,  in  mathematics    .  19 

in  rhetoric 175 

in  science 334 

Theorems  in  geometry   ....  60 

Theory 280 

and  adaptation 271 

experiments  on 268 

and  practice    ....    263,  274 

versus  practice 66 

psychology  of 271 

and  skill 272 

Thorndike,  E.  L. 

7,  393,  395,  405,  406,  419,  435 

Tones,  discrimination  of    .    .  348 

Tools,  sensations  from    .    .    .  255 

Teuton,  F.  C 108 

Trade  teachers 288 

Training,  experiments  on  .    .  269 

'Transfer  of  training  ....  404 

method  of 412 

Translation 224 

Trial  and  error  ....    259,  275 

Typewriting 287 

habits  in 258 

Units  .                                      .  481 


Value,  educational     ....  266 

Verbalism  in  learning    .    .    .  326 

Vernacular 207,  220 

instruction  in 162 

Verse  in  composition ....  181 

Vertical,  recognition  of ...  38 

Vietor 241 

Vision,  monocular 30 

Visualizers 7 

Vocal  cords,  selection  of    .    .  144 

Volksschule 487 

Webster,  Noah   ....    174,  175 

Wentworth,  G.  A 46 

Withdrawal 17 

Woodward,  C.  M 250 

Word  reactions  ....    233,  238 

Words,  and  abstraction ...  98 

in  counting 91 

and  direct  experiences    .    .  154 

and  generalization  ....  428 

and  interpretation  ....  193 

and  meaning 102 

psychology  of 167 

as  realities 161 

use  of 47 

Workshop,  psychology  of  .    .  257 

Writing 254 

evolution  of 151 

Wundt,W 136 


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